Privacy and the city: how data shapes city identities

Article


Petkova, B. 2024. Privacy and the city: how data shapes city identities. ICL Journal. https://doi.org/10.1515/icl-2023-0027
TypeArticle
TitlePrivacy and the city: how data shapes city identities
AuthorsPetkova, B.
Abstract

This article bridges comparative constitutional law with research inspired by city leadership and the opportunities that technology brings to the urban environment. It looks first to some of the causes of rapid urbanization and finds them in the pitfalls of antidiscrimination law in federations and quasi-federations such as the United States and the European Union. Short of achieving antidiscrimination based on nationality, the EU has experimented with data privacy as an identity clause that could bring social cohesion the same way purportedly freedom of speech has done in the US. In the City however, diversity replaces antidiscrimination, making cities attractive to migrants across various walks of life. The consequence for federalism is the obvious decline of top-down or vertical, state-based federalism and the rise of legal urbanism whereby cities establish loose networks of cooperation between themselves. These types of arrangements are not yet a threat to the State or the EU but might become such if cities are increasingly isolated from the political process (e.g., at the EU level) and lack legal means to assert themselves in court. City diversity and openness to different cultures in turn invites a connection to new technologies since unlike antidiscrimination that is usually strictly examined on a case-by-case level, diversity can be more readily computed. Finally, the article focuses on NYC and London initiatives to suggest a futuristic vision of city networks that instead of using social credit score like in China, deploy data trusts to populate their urban environments, shape city identities and exchange ideas for urban development..

Keywordsfederalism; cities; data privacy; freedom of speech; data trusts
Sustainable Development Goals10 Reduced inequalities
Middlesex University ThemeCreativity, Culture & Enterprise
PublisherDe Gruyter
JournalICL Journal
ISSN2306-3734
Electronic1995-5855
Publication dates
Online04 Apr 2024
Publication process dates
Submitted24 Jul 2023
Accepted20 Nov 2023
Deposited23 Apr 2024
Output statusPublished
Publisher's version
License
File Access Level
Open
Copyright Statement

© 2023 the author(s), published by De Gruyter, Berlin/Boston

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1515/icl-2023-0027
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https://repository.mdx.ac.uk/item/124y26

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10.1515_icl-2023-0027.pdf
License: CC BY 4.0
File access level: Open

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