---
title: "Oh No, Spying on Protestors Might Make the Public Distrust Surveillance"
description: "Last month, San Diego police repeatedly tapped streetlight cameras to surveil BLM protestors: a chilling use of smart city tech that threatens public trust."
date: "2020-07-06"
modified: "2020-07-06"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/spying-protestors-make-public-distrust-surveillance"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
tags:
  - "police"
  - "privacy"
  - "surviellance"
  - "the digest"
---

# Oh No, Spying on Protestors Might Make the Public Distrust Surveillance

![Last month, San Diego police repeatedly tapped streetlight cameras to surveil BLM protestors: a chilling use of smart city tech that threatens public trust.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/spying-protestors-make-public-distrust-surveillance.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Benoît Prieur/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Fool Me Once

Last month, San Diego's police department tapped video footage from the city's smart streetlight cameras in order to identify and spy on Black Lives Matter protestors.

It's a chilling use of the technology: Using cameras ostensibly installed as a public safety and transit analytics tool to instead surveil protestors exercising their First Amendment rights. But the police requests may have an unintended effect, [according to *Business Insider*](<https://www.businessinsider.com/repurposing-smart-city-solutions-risks-jeopardizing-public-trust-2020-7>) — they could turn the public off so-called "smart city" developments in the future.

## Kneejerk

It's easy to dunk on an argument like that. Won't someone think of the poor, poor, high-tech surveillance panopticon?

But *Business Insider* raises a valid point. San Diego police have been using video footage from the streetlight cameras since 2018, and the myriad ways in which [law](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/baltimore-police-monitor-city-spy-planes>) [enforcement](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/government-spy-planes-are-circling-above-heads-of-blm-protesters>) [surveils](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/amazon-ring-talking-points-police>) [the public](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/facial-recognition-nypd-china>) remain poorly understood and shrouded in secrecy. Upon learning about them, why would anyone ever want a [camera pointed their way](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/senators-propose-national-ban-police-facial-recognition>) again?

## Hands Tied

Unfortunately, in San Diego's case, fixing the problem would prove difficult.

The cameras were first introduced in 2016, *Business Insider* reports, and the stated goal was to gather data that could be used to refine the city's transit system. But because General Electric put $30 million into the program, the city can't just take the cameras down without owing the company a whole lot of dough.

**READ MORE:** [The San Diego police's reported use of smart streetlights to gather evidence against protesters may turn the public against future smart-city solutions](<https://www.businessinsider.com/repurposing-smart-city-solutions-risks-jeopardizing-public-trust-2020-7>) \[*Business Insider*\]

**More on police surveillance:** *[Cops Are Using Military Spy Planes To Surveil BLM Protestors](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/government-spy-planes-are-circling-above-heads-of-blm-protesters>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)