Chapter 25 Quiz: Urban Sensors and Smart City Infrastructure

Instructions: Choose the best answer for multiple choice questions. For short-answer questions, write 2–4 sentences unless otherwise specified.

1. The chapter's central critique of "smart city" discourse is that:

a) Smart city technology is too expensive to provide meaningful benefits relative to traditional infrastructure b) The "efficiency" framing obscures the political dimensions of choices about what data to collect, how to process it, and who controls it c) Smart city sensors generate too much data for any institution to analyze meaningfully d) The primary beneficiaries of smart city technology are technology companies rather than city residents

2. Which of the following sensor types generates the most significant individual privacy concern, according to the chapter?

a) Inductive loop traffic counters b) LIDAR pedestrian counters c) License plate readers with historical data retention d) Air quality monitoring sensors

3. WiFi probe requests are privacy-relevant because:

a) They allow sensors to intercept and read the content of WiFi transmissions b) They broadcast a device's MAC address (hardware identifier) that can be used to track specific devices across locations c) They enable sensors to identify the websites a user is accessing on their smartphone d) They capture the personal contacts stored in a smartphone's address book

4. MAC address randomization, adopted in modern smartphones, limits WiFi probe tracking by:

a) Blocking all probe request transmissions when in public areas b) Generating a random identifier for each probe rather than the device's permanent hardware address c) Encrypting probe requests so they cannot be read by unauthorized sensors d) Requiring explicit user permission before any probe request is transmitted

5. In the Sidewalk Toronto case, which governance concern was most prominently raised as a reason for the project's collapse?

a) The project exceeded the city's budget by three times the original estimate b) The Civic Data Trust governance structure was inadequate to prevent Alphabet/Google from accessing data for commercial purposes c) The technology proposed for Sidewalk Toronto was not technically mature enough for deployment d) The project was found to violate Canada's Criminal Code privacy provisions

6. "Vendor lock-in" in smart city contexts refers to:

a) The exclusive licensing agreements that prevent cities from purchasing sensor equipment from competitors b) A dependency relationship in which a city's infrastructure is so deeply integrated with a vendor's proprietary platform that switching is practically infeasible c) The contractual obligation of cities to maintain a minimum number of sensors for a specified contract term d) Legal restrictions that prevent city employees from working for technology vendors after leaving government service

7. The San Diego smart streetlight controversy revealed that the streetlights had been used to:

a) Monitor utility usage in residential buildings adjacent to the streetlight installations b) Conduct facial recognition of individuals on public streets without council authorization c) Review footage from protest activities, beyond the original traffic management and public safety purposes d) Collect WiFi probe data that was shared with commercial advertising networks

8. A fusion center integrating LPR data, CCTV footage, ShotSpotter alerts, and social media monitoring creates surveillance capabilities that exceed what any individual system provides. This is an example of what the chapter calls:

a) Function creep applied to administrative data b) The emergent properties of data integration — the aggregate exceeds the sum of individual parts c) Syndromic surveillance applied to urban behavioral patterns d) Vertical consolidation of formerly independent surveillance infrastructure

9. The LPR (license plate reader) concern raised in the context of the Dobbs v. Jackson abortion decision was:

a) That LPR data could be used to identify individuals who had traveled to abortion clinics b) That LPR systems might be configured to automatically generate alerts for vehicles registered to abortion providers c) That federal law enforcement could access LPR databases without a warrant following the decision d) That insurance companies might use LPR data to deny coverage to individuals who traveled to reproductive health clinics

10. Which of the following is the most accurate characterization of who owns smart city data in typical municipal contracts?

a) The city always owns all data generated by infrastructure installed on city property b) Data ownership varies by contract, and in many early contracts, vendors retain rights to aggregate data while cities receive only processed reports c) Federal law requires all smart city data generated using public funds to be publicly accessible under open data requirements d) Data ownership is always shared equally between the city and the vendor under standard municipal procurement rules

11. V2I (Vehicle-to-Infrastructure) communication is identified as a future privacy concern because:

a) V2I requires vehicles to be equipped with surveillance cameras that transmit footage to city servers b) As it becomes more sophisticated, V2I data will include vehicle identity, speed, location, and potentially route destination c) V2I communication creates a permanent record of all fuel and energy consumption by monitored vehicles d) Insurance companies have lobbied for access to V2I data to adjust premiums based on individual driving behavior

12. The chapter identifies which key distinction between different traffic sensor types for privacy purposes?

a) The distinction between government-operated and privately-operated sensors b) The distinction between sensors that count versus sensors that identify specific vehicles or people c) The distinction between indoor and outdoor sensors d) The distinction between real-time data collection and historical archive access

13. Privacy by Design (PbD), as described in the chapter, is identified as:

a) A comprehensive legal framework that governs all smart city surveillance in the European Union b) A set of technical principles that, if genuinely implemented and backed by robust governance, can reduce privacy harms — but which has significant limitations c) A vendor certification program that guarantees compliant companies will not misuse collected data d) A judicial standard for evaluating whether surveillance technology violates Fourth Amendment protections

14. The chapter's Python analysis distinguishes between what aggregate pedestrian count data CAN and CANNOT tell researchers. Which of the following is identified as something aggregate count data CANNOT tell us?

a) Peak usage times for scheduling maintenance b) Whether any specific individual was present at a location on a specific date c) Weekday versus weekend demand differences d) Whether infrastructure investments changed foot traffic volumes

15. The chapter's description of Jordan's Smart Mobility District audit illustrates which broader argument?

a) That smart city technology is primarily deployed in affluent neighborhoods where residents can afford higher service standards b) That each individual sensor has a legitimate explanation, but the combination creates surveillance capabilities that no individual explanation encompasses c) That visual surveillance (cameras) is more privacy-invasive than acoustic surveillance (sound monitors) d) That city residents consistently overestimate the number of surveillance devices in their environment

16. Which of the following approaches would best exemplify "privacy by design" in a pedestrian flow monitoring system?

a) Posting prominent signage at each sensor location notifying passersby they are being monitored b) Allowing individuals to submit FOIA requests for the data collected about them c) Processing audio on-device to produce aggregate count data without storing raw audio that could identify voices d) Requiring law enforcement to obtain a warrant before accessing real-time pedestrian count data

17. Short Answer: The chapter argues that the combination of individually-explicable smart city sensors creates "emergent" surveillance capabilities. Explain what this means using the specific sensors Jordan documented. Why does this emergent quality create governance challenges that cannot be resolved by evaluating each sensor in isolation?

18. Essay (300 words): Sidewalk Toronto's failure is described in the chapter as a governance failure rather than a technical or economic one. Using the specific details from the chapter's account, write an essay arguing for or against this characterization. If it was primarily a governance failure, what specific governance design would have avoided it? If you believe it was a different kind of failure, make the case for your alternative explanation.

Answer Key available in Appendix B — Answers to Selected Exercises.