AccScience Publishing / DP / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/DP025110017
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ARTICLE

Privacy and security concerns shaping smart city adoption: Evidence from Qatar

Dana Ahmad Al-Ali1* ,  Nadarajah Manivannan1 ,  Ziad Hunaiti2 ,  Yanmeng Xu1
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1 Brunel Design School, College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences, Brunel University of London, London, United Kingdom
2 Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences, Brunel University of London, London, United Kingdom
DP, 025110017 https://doi.org/10.36922/DP025110017
Received: 11 March 2025 | Revised: 29 July 2025 | Accepted: 25 August 2025 | Published online: 23 September 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Information security remains a significant concern for the adoption of smart cities (SCs) worldwide, particularly in relation to the development and implementation of digital ecosystems. SCs entail the interconnectedness of networks and systems that collect and process huge volumes of diverse data. This study analyzes the impact of data privacy and data security issues on the citizens’ willingness to adopt smart city environments. A critical review of the existing literature was conducted regarding the relationship between data privacy and security concerns and the adoption of the smart city ecosystem. The data collected from two sample groups, experts and citizens, were analyzed using statistical techniques, including independent samples t-tests and correlation analysis. The findings indicate that citizens and experts had significantly different perceptions of the characteristics of SCs. Still, both groups exhibited a strong positive correlation between key adoption variables and citizens’ readiness to accept SCs. Based on the findings, several recommendations are proposed to increase citizens’ acceptance of SCs.

Keywords
Data privacy
Smart city
Smart governance
Concerns
Readiness
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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