Not only are light bulbs getting sharper and more energy efficient as they are upgraded to LEDs, but they increasingly help fight crime, promote safe cycling and even protect turtles.  That’s because street lights are also becoming the eyes and ears of “smart” cities.  Lamp posts double as data collectors, communicating with a central control system that makes automated decisions about when they are on, for how long, and the brightness.

Source: BBC Technology News

Date: October 18th, 2016

Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37522674

Discussion

1) The article talks about how “the lights go up if cyclists are picked up on sensors.”  Is this an invasion of privacy, or not?

2) “You could say this about quite a few Internet of Things technologies – they go for security through obscurity.”  Security researcher Denis Legezo, from Kaspersky, demonstrated earlier this year that he was able to manipulate traffic sensors in Moscow by finding their manuals online.  What is meant by “security through obscurity”, and when does it fail?