Crowdsourcing urban surveillance: The development of homeland security markets for environmental sensor networks

Mobile systems for detecting environmental threats may radically restructure spatial imaginaries as people learn to see and engage with heretofore largely hidden dimensions of urban spaces. While the design of such technological systems is contingent and currently open to varied outcomes, powerful security and industry players are asserting their influence to set overriding protocols that will ensure widespread ambient data collection, especially for security and commercial applications. This paper critically explores the emergent power geographies of surveillance revealed by one such system: the Department of Homeland Security's Cell-All project. This project, which has been under development at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since 2007, equips mobile phones with chemical-agent detectors and links them to security networks so that threats to urban populations can be automatically detected and rapidly mitigated. In order to assess the politics of crowdsourced sensing systems, first we map the core characteristics of the Cell-All development model: creating a participatory system, building public-private partnerships, and outsourcing responsibility for privacy protections. Second, we describe some alternative designs for mobile, participatory environmental sensing and reflect on their potentials for correcting power inequalities or achieving environmental justice. Finally, we conclude by discussing the implications of these various systems and the conditions that could alter their outcomes.

► We investigated the Department of Homeland Security's Cell-All project. ► Cell-All embeds mobile phones with chemical sensors, linked to security networks. ► The system relies on public users, industry partnerships, and privacy delegation. ► We describe alternative designs for mobile, participatory environmental sensing.