LED Smart Lights Raise Privacy Concerns

The next time you happen to be at terminal “B” at Newark airport, take a moment to stop whatever you are doing, and look up. The lights up there that keep everything nice and bright? They aren’t ordinary lights, but smart lights, for the want of a better description. Comprising of a sophisticated array of LED fixtures that has integrated sensors and cameras which are hooked over a wireless network, they will be able to keep track of security as well as the flow of foot traffic.

This is different from the likes of the GE Link Smart Bulb, but being lights that are hooked up to smart networks in order to obtain and collate data, there is also another issue which is worth exploring – privacy concerns. The main reason for the smart lights installed at the Newark airport is to save energy, which actually amounts to more than $182,000 each year, now how about that?

Of course, being able to monitor the human traffic flow is another advantage that would help airport operators gain insight into passenger traffic and the like. The thing is, you can never really tell just how in-depth the tracking mechanism is going to get in the future – will there be some sort of Big Brother conspiracy down the road?

Edwin Kee
Categories: General
Tags: smart lights