LEGAL CHALLENGES OF THE PROTECTION OF PERSONAL DATA IN THE CONTEXT OF SMART CITY

Abstract

This research project was about the study of the legal challenges of the protection of personal data in the context of smart city by adopting document-based methodology. The main research question of this project was that: “What are the legal challenges with the protection of personal data in the context of smart city?”. With regard to the nature of smart city, various kinds of technology, including Internet of Things, Big Data, and Artificial Intelligence are adopted to manage and control the city’s infrastructure. Firstly, the operation of the “Internet of Things” which is the concept about connecting all the electronic devices via the Internet generates the collection of a large amount of personal data which is called “Big Data”. The Big Data is the main resource under the process of the data analytic for making a prediction which is the major function of “Artificial Intelligence”. All these technologies are working on the infrastructure of “Cloud Computing”. From the study, it was found that the nature of the smart city brought about two main legal challenges: (1) obtaining consent from the data subjects; and (2) identifying status, responsibility and liability of the relevant parties. Finally, the potential approaches for addressing such legal challenges were suggested with a view to protecting the personal data and the right to privacy of the data subjects in the context of smart city.