SAPIENT aims to specify how and when smart surveillance should be used (or not) and its characteristics to be effective and scalable to rapidly adapt to changing situations. It will provide stakeholders with a set of criteria for data protection and integrity that can be used to verify that surveillance systems and the sharing of information respect the privacy of citizens. The project will develop and provide a privacy impact assessment methodology, which is tailor-made for surveillance projects and technology developments and, in so doing, the use of the methodology will provide a means for limiting the collection and storage of unnecessary data. It will focus on the necessity and proportionality of data collection needs to avoid undue threats to data protection and privacy. SAPIENT will pave the way towards an approach of surveillance where the respect of the privacy of the citizen will be central.

The SAPIENT project will define and characterize smart surveillance within technological, social, political, legal, and ethical contexts, bridging from current studies of state-of-the-art of surveillance to emerging technologies and related applications expected over the next decade.
The second step will begin the process of active stakeholder engagement within SAPIENT, through convening focus groups with participants representing various views and interests on different applications of smart surveillance.

Then the SAPIENT team will examine existing privacy impact assessment (PIA) methodologies and propose a methodology that is suitable for the assessment of state-of-the-art and emerging surveillance technologies and related applications.

The validation of the suggested PIA is done by three distinct field studies. These cases may focus upon technologies such as RFID, biometrics, or smart CCTV. A “lessons learned” evaluation will be completed at the conclusion of the case study test, and these will be used to revise the PIA methodology, resulting in the Surveillance Privacy Impact Assessment Manual.
Moreover a series of policy meetings will be held over the course of the project to present results of research. At the conclusion of the project, a final conference will be held to present the main findings and recommendations. It is expected to pave the way towards an approach of surveillance where the respect for privacy will be central.

The work of the project will lead to a practical handbook which will help policy-makers, technology developers and other stakeholders to better understand how and when smart surveillance should be used, and apply criteria to assure that such systems respect the privacy of citizen.

Status:
Laufend (01.02.2011 - 31.01.2014)

Auftraggeber:
European Commission, DG ENTR/REA, 7th Framework Programme

Partner:
Trilateral Research and Consulting LLP, London, UK
Vrije Universiteit Brüssel (VUB), BE
Centre for Science, Society and Citizenship (CSSC), Rom, IT
Universita della Svizzera Italiana (USI), Lugano, CH
King’s Colege London (KCL), UK
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Brüssel, BE 

Publikationen:           
Wright, D.; Friedewald, M.; Gutwirth, S. et al. (2010): Sorting out smart surveillance. In: Computer Law and Security Review 26, Nr. 4, S. 343-354