- Smart lamp posts will be equipped with sensors, cameras and data networks, among other facilities, to harness data for analysis and public use
- Government stresses it has no plans to collect facial or personal data and lamp posts facing residential buildings will not have cameras
Four hundred multifunctional lamp posts will be installed around Hong Kong over the next three years as part of the government's plan to promote smart city development, with HK$272 million (US$34.75 million) being set aside for the project.
Equipped with sensors, closed-circuit cameras, data networks and other related digital facilities, the smart lamp posts could be used to collect air quality, traffic flow and weather data. The data would also be available to the public, government departments and various industries for analysis.
Traffic cameras installed in some lamp posts could help monitor and collect real-time information on congestion and accidents. Air-quality sensors could also help collect data on the concentration of pollutants, which would be sent to the Environmental Protection Department for analysis.
The lamp posts would also aim to support the construction of 5G mobile networks, with base stations installed to facilitate faster mobile data networks.
"Smart lamp posts can help our department implement a lot of smart applications to enhance city and traffic management," said Tony Wong Chi-kwong, assistant government chief information officer.
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Wong stressed the smart lamp posts would not cause privacy breaches for citizens. Some functions of the lamps have been withheld until wide public consultations are conducted. Approval from district councils would also be required before these functions could be implemented.
The withheld applications concerned the use of video cameras to detect information on illegal dumping black spots, as well as collecting car plate numbers to analyse the types of vehicles on specific roads.
Smart lamp posts facing residential areas would not have video cameras installed to protect the privacy of citizens.
"We understand there are areas of public concern about using smart lamp posts that will have potential for invasion of privacy or collecting personal information. We do not have any plans and will not have any plans to collect facial or individual data," Wong said.
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The first 50 smart lamp posts have been implemented since the end of June around several districts with higher pedestrian and traffic flow, including Kowloon Bay, Shing Kai Road in Kai Tak and Kwun Tong.
More smart lamp posts will be installed in phases in other neighbourhoods such as Central, Admiralty, Causeway Bay, Wan Chai and Tsim Sha Tsui.
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