Thread by @ContextNewsroom

🚁 Flying drones for taxis
👻 Holographs for teachers
🌙 Even a man-made moon

Would you sell your data to live in Saudi Arabia's new smart city, #TheLine?

Some are keen but others are concerned. Why? 🧵

🏙️ #TheLine will be the first development in @NEOM, a planned $500 billion city.

The sustainable smart city will feature two skyscrapers stretching in a straight line over 170 kilometers.

📊 It will stack homes and offices vertically, mining the data of its 9 million people.

💰Saudi Arabia plans to pay @NEOM residents for their data.

📲 This will be collected from their smartphones, homes, facial recognition, and a host of other sensors.

🏠 It will be used to manage power, water, waste, transport, healthcare, and security.

But Saudi Arabia's poor human rights record doesn't bode well for responsible data usage and privacy protection, experts say.

🗣️"The surveillance concerns are justified, it is, in effect, a surveillance city," said Vincent Mosco, a researcher of the social impacts of technology.

🤝🚫 Some rights experts back paying people for data, which is often collected without an individual's consent.

🔝 Others worry that payment incentives will create a two-tier system where some data is valued more highly than others.

But not everyone is concerned.

🗣"My data is already used by social media platforms, ride-sharing apps, etc. This system is better because I get paid," said Fahd Mohamed, a 28-year-old engineer who lives in Jeddah.

📲 @NEOM residents will also have control over what personal information is shared and how it is used.

🚨 They will be alerted if data is used without consent.

❓ Would you live in the #TheLine and be paid for your data?

🌐Some argue many of us are giving our data away for free anyway. #TheLine shows it can be consensual and people can be paid for it.

✋But critics worry that @NEOM residents will have no control over how it is used.

✍️@MennaFarouk91 writes.
tmsnrt.rs/3QV0iGA