Smart Doorbell Surveillance: How can legitimate surveillance protect the right of citizens to privacy?

Summary

This research explores significant ethical and societal challenges associated with surveillance systems, particularly those that draw upon big data analytics and the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for surveillance purposes. It focuses on the potentialities of a surveillance-centred future that involves extensive data collection, processing it to discover patterns, and acting upon such patterns to control and manipulate people's behaviour.

The main argument of this research is that legitimate surveillance may become societal control with implications for democratic principles and generate socioeconomic inequality in society.



Background

The deployment of smart video doorbells for surveillance purposes is becoming an increasingly widespread practice. The proliferation of these technologies raises privacy concerns, owing to the potential for these devices to establish a "sweeping surveillance nexus," making it impossible for people to move and speak freely around their neighbourhoods and communities without the fear of being tracked (Walsh, 2022).

The capacity of smart doorbell technology to collect data on people's everyday interactions, as well as the inherent potential of processing personal data to personalise and profile individuals, both increase the likelihood of personal information being misused, whether unintentionally or deliberately. All of these unintended consequences are highly undesirable (Beckwith 2003).



Research questions

The central question that this project asks is: How can legitimate surveillance for the purposes of safety and security also protect the rights of citizens to privacy?

Questions that are then consequently asked are:

When does legitimate surveillance become societal control with implications for democratic principles?
What impact will future surveillance technologies have on society and individuals?


Aims and Objectives

The primary goal of this research is to: (1) identify critical factors of deploying smart video doorbells for surveillance purposes; and (2) explore the potential for smart doorbells to define us, undermine our privacy, and demarcate our freedom as a way to inform policy-makers, decision-makers, stakeholders, and the industry of the dangers of these possibilities.

The objectives include constructing and analysing a set of forecasting scenarios that depict a variety of possible futures, irrespective of how desirable they might be, and highlighting the risks to privacy and security posed by smart doorbell surveillance technology.



Methodology

Due to the fact that "privacy and ethics are person-dependent, culture-dependent, and situation-dependent" (Wright et al., 2005, p. 122), addressing the privacy concerns raised by smart doorbells requires a multi-disciplinary strategy. Therefore, the research adopts the SWAMI ("Safeguards in a World of Ambient Intelligence") scenario methodology (Wright et al., 2008).

The process of developing scenario stories includes literature review, expert and internal workshops, "technology and reality check" of the smart doorbell technology. The SWAMI interdisciplinary approach incorporates aspects of a variety of fields, such as computer science, law, and ethics. This framework has the objective of addressing and mitigating potential ethical and technological risks by offering a mechanism to inform policy-makers, project managers, planners, and other stakeholders, including those in the industry sector, of the possibilities and dangers outlined in the scenarios.

We will collaborate with over 40 partners drawn from across FMCG and Food; Creative Industries; Health and Wellbeing; Smart Mobility; Finance; Enabling technologies; and Policy, Law and Society. These will benefit from engagement with our CDT through the following established mechanisms:

- Training multi-disciplinary leaders. Our partners will benefit from being able to recruit highly skilled individuals who are able to work across technologies, methods and sectors and in multi-disciplinary teams. We will deliver at least 65 skilled PhD graduates into the Digital Economy.

- Internships. Each Horizon student undertakes at least one industry internship or exchange at an external partner. These internships have a benefit to the student in developing their appreciation of the relevance of their PhD to the external societal and industrial context, and have a benefit to the external partner through engagement with our students and their multidisciplinary skill sets combined with an ability to help innovate new ideas and approaches with minimal long-term risk. Internships are a compulsory part of our programme, taking place in the summer of the first year. We will deliver at least 65 internships with partners.

- Industry-led challenge projects. Each student participates in an industry-led group project in their second year. Our partners benefit from being able to commission focused research projects to help them answer a challenge that they could not normally fund from their core resources. We will deliver at least 15 such projects (3 a year) throughout the lifetime of the CDT.

- Industry-relevant PhD projects. Each student delivers a PhD thesis project in collaboration with at least one external partner who benefits from being able to engage in longer-term and deeper research that they would not normally be able to undertake, especially for those who do not have their own dedicated R&D labs. We will deliver at least 65 such PhDs over the lifetime of this CDT renewal.

- Public engagement. All students receive training in public engagement and learn to communicate their findings through press releases, media coverage.

This proposal introduces two new impact channels in order to further the impact of our students' work and help widen our network of partners.

- The Horizon Impact Fund. Final year students can apply for support to undertake short impact projects. This benefits industry partners, public and third sector partners, academic partners and the wider public benefit from targeted activities that deepen the impact of individual students' PhD work. This will support activities such as developing plans for spin-outs and commercialization; establishing an IP position; preparing and documenting open-source software or datasets; and developing tourable public experiences.

- ORBIT as an impact partner for RRI. Students will embed findings and methods for Responsible Research Innovation into the national training programme that is delivered by ORBIT, the Observatory for Responsible Research and Innovation in ICT (www.orbit-rri.org). Through our direct partnership with ORBIT all Horizon CDT students will be encouraged to write up their experience of RRI as contributions to ORBIT so as to ensure that their PhD research will not only gain visibility but also inform future RRI training and education. PhD projects that are predominantly in the area of RRI are expected to contribute to new training modules, online tools or other ORBIT services.