Not so smart

THE GROWING MENACE OF ‘SMART POLES’ IN QUEENSLAND

A number of councils in Queensland are partnering with ENE-Hub, to deliver networks of ‘smart streetlights’, aka ‘smart poles’ or ‘SmartNodes’, throughout their towns and cities.

It is all being done in the name of worthy-sounding goals like ‘greener energy solutions, better service delivery, convenience and ‘safer streets’.

Most people don’t even notice these ‘smart poles’, or if they do, just think they are some new ‘sustainable’ form of lighting.

They aren’t.

Together these poles make up a fully-fledged IT ‘platform’, or ‘smart grid’, for the coming Internet of Things (IoT) with built in sensors, cameras and microphones connected over a wireless network.

They have public address speakers installed to give instructions to people on how to behave.  Some even have drone charging stations on the top.

Why?  Because surveillance drones will be a key element of the coming ‘smart city’ aerial policing system.

In the UK and US, ‘smart poles’ capabilities include facial recognition, licence plate recognition technologies and behaviour prediction software.

Here in Queensland, most councils (including Mackay) have ‘smart lighting’ listed as a key feature of their ‘Priority Development Area Plans’.

In 2018, Moreton Bay Regional Council announced a 20 year contract with ENE-Hub for the delivery of smart technology and services, including ‘smart streetlights’.

Brisbane City Council spent more than $2 million in 2019, installing ENE-Hub “smart poles” to “collect data on the city’s operations”.

On the Sunshine Coast, 158 smart poles have been installed, including 60 wirelessly connected streetlights in Maroochydore’s City Centre.

I am told that ‘smart poles’ have been installed on the Gold Coast and even in regional towns like Warwick.

It’s all being done at the local level, by politicians who actually think they are doing a good thing, all in the name of ‘sustainability’ and fighting crime.

The real agenda, however, is digital surveillance and data collection.

The goal is to eventually track everything you do and everywhere you go, using the power of artificial intelligence and 5G.

The true dangers won’t be apparent, however, until the whole thing is connected up to the digital economy, digital identity, digital currency and the coming social credit system.

That’s when the algorithms and AI connected to these ‘smart streetlights’ will really need to keep watching you and how you’re behaving.

They’re going to be scoring your actions and emotions, tracking your eye movements and recording everything you do and say, in real time – ALL the time.

Remember that when your local council starts talking about installing these ‘smart poles’ in a neighbourhood near you.