The City of Salisbury Council will move forward with its rollout of a controversial plan to bolster CCTV in Adelaide’s northern suburbs despite opposition from protesters. 

Key points:

  • All but two councillors voted in favour of the Smart Cities initiative 
  • Concerned residents voiced their opposition to the proposal at the meeting
  • The council ruled out the use of facial recognition technology

About 70 protesters gathered at the council chamber on Tuesday night to oppose the council’s Smart Cities initiative which will introduce more CCTV cameras to the area. 

All but two councillors voted in favour of affirming their support for the proposal and ruled out the use of facial recognition technology. 

Salisbury Mayor Gillian Aldridge, who supports Smart Cities technology, said the meeting was held to try and dispel misinformation about the proposal circulating in the community and on social media. 

“It is rolled-out and it’s been here for ages,” she said. 

“It’s things like finding out the hoon drivers, people have asked us, can we please have cameras, it’s about illegal dumping of rubbish, it’s about bins that tell you when they are full. 

“It’s about looking after the community the best we can.” 

Gillian Aldridge says the purpose of tonight’s meeting was to dispel mistruths about the technology. (ABC News)

About 100 protesters gathered outside the council chambers on Monday night but the meeting was cancelled due to a power outage in the area.

The protesters were from the No Smart Cities Action Group (NOSCAG), which recently delivered tens of thousands of pamphlets across Salisbury likening the Smart Cities program to an “open-air prison” without privacy.

The group used a picture of Senator Alex Antic in the pamphlet, but he said it was used without his knowledge or consent.

He had opposed a similar plan in the City of Unley.

“I think it’s sad that 52,000 households which is 150,000 people were given something and they actually believed it even though it was signed, there’s no phone number to ring to find out whether it was true or not,” Ms Aldridge said.

“It scared a lot of people and I think that’s so sad, a lot of elderly people are frightened.” 

Part of a flyer objecting to the City of Salisbury’s Smart Cities program. (Reddit)

Local resident Alvin Warren told the meeting he had widespread concerns about the Smart Cities proposal. 

“One of my concerns is the financial burden that is going to be placed onto residents for the implementation of this system and its continuing annual maintenance,” he said. 

“We are looking at the data records of this stuff, where is it going to be stored? Is it going to be onshore, is it going to be offshore, who’s going to get access to this stuff?” 

Last year, the Adelaide City Council voted unanimously not to include facial recognition technology in new security cameras being installed across the CBD.

The council had written to SA Police asking if they could delay using facial recognition technology if it was installed in city cameras until safeguards measures were in place, but police indicated they would likely still use the technology.