Democratic Party MP Klevis Balliu has denounced the “Smart City Albania” project, calling for explanations over the doubling of its cost, the selection of the contracting company without competition, and the potential risks related to the security of citizens’ data.

Balliu said that in April 2024, the project was made public with a value of around $60 million, while, before a year had even passed, the contract had reached $118.5 million. According to the Democratic MP, the government has presented no convincing technical or financial argument for the increase and has provided no credible explanation as to why Albanians should pay double the bill.

He also raised concerns over the fact that the contract was signed without an open competitive procedure. According to him, avoiding competition runs counter to the transparency and competition standards provided for under Albanian legislation, as well as the commitments Albania has undertaken toward the European Union.

In his statement, Balliu said that Edi Rama’s government was imposing another $118.5 million burden on Albanians for “Smart City Albania,” a project that, he said, raises serious questions about the management of public funds, transparency and national security.

The MP argued that when hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ dollars are distributed without competition or accountability, suspicions of the misuse of public funds become inevitable.

According to Balliu, the concerns are not limited to the financial aspect. The project envisages the installation of more than 5,000 smart cameras and sophisticated surveillance systems in Albania’s major cities, including schools. As a result, millions of pieces of data belonging to Albanian citizens will be processed through a system that will form part of the state’s critical infrastructure.

Balliu also focused on the contracting company Presight AI, which is part of the G42 group. He said that senior institutions of the United States have repeatedly expressed concerns over documented links between the group and entities close to the military and intelligence apparatus of the People’s Republic of China.

According to him, two committees of the US Congress have formally called for assessments and investigations into these links, describing them as an issue of strategic importance to security.

The Democratic MP stressed that Albania, as a NATO member, has clearly defined responsibilities for protecting critical infrastructure and citizens’ information. Nevertheless, he said, the government has published no independent assessment of the risks to national security and has not disclosed what safeguards have been put in place to protect the data the system will collect.

On behalf of Albanian citizens, the Democratic Party is demanding to know how a project valued at $60 million became a liability of $118.5 million, why no competition was held, and what guarantees the Albanian state has that citizens’ privacy and national security will not be compromised.

According to the statement, public funds, citizens’ privacy and national security cannot be treated by the government as confidential matters. They require full transparency, political responsibility and accountability from state institutions.

Balliu said these demands are among those that have been repeated every evening for 69 days at the civic protest held in front of the Prime Minister’s Office.

He added that the Democratic Party stands with citizens and their demands, while identifying only one person as responsible.

“Rama, resign!” the statement concluded.

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The government says it is investing millions to install smart cameras in several schools, but parents and experts are sounding the alarm over potential cyber risks, while stressing that the measure ignores the real problems in the education system.

After the unconstitutional TikTok ban, Prime Minister Edi Rama once again exploited the tragic killing of 14-year-old Martin Cani, this time to promote the costly “Smart City” project as a golden solution to violence in schools.

During the inauguration of a command center on July 16, Rama said he had not forgotten the murdered child, while presenting the project as a systemic response to risks in educational institutions.

“Our response in this case is a systemic response which, also in honor of the memory of an innocent and needless victim, will ensure that many children who could potentially be at risk one day will suffer no consequences,” the prime minister stressed.

But his statements failed to convince the Cani family, at the very least.

“Cameras do not prevent violence, do not replace psychologists, do not solve the lack of security, did not save Martin, and will not save other children without real measures,” declared the parents of the 14-year-old killed near the “Fan Noli” school in November 2024.

The “Smart City” project has now entered the implementation phase through the installation of smart cameras in 20 schools in Tirana County, on roads and at border crossing points, with the promise of increasing public safety.

It is expected to cost taxpayers more than €118 million, secured through a loan agreement with the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development.

The public has received little explanation recently from Interior Minister Besfort Lamallari, who said in a television interview that the project would extend to 873 operational locations across the country, divided among 12 local police directorates, 24 major cities and 28 Border Crossing Points.

According to him, the system aims to prevent a list of 20 criminal offenses, ranging from the consumption of prohibited substances to aggressive behavior and bladed weapons. He also responded remotely to privacy concerns, claiming that the police would not receive the footage, but encrypted “alerts.”

Mass biometric surveillance has nevertheless heightened concerns over privacy violations, while experts believe it also leaves Albania’s education system’s problems unresolved.

“In many schools, psychologists cover several institutions at the same time, confidential spaces are lacking, and their role often remains merely formal. Under these circumstances, it is paradoxical that public investment should initially focus on artificial intelligence rather than human intelligence,” said Kolindo Vjerdha, a representative of “Qëndresa Qytetare.”

The Interior Ministry did not respond to BIRN’s questions by the time this article was published.

An oppressive environment

The application of the “Smart City” project in schools has caused concern among a group of parents, who also complain about a lack of information.

Ataol Kaso, a publisher and parent of a child studying at the “Jeronim de Rada” school, said he did not understand the logic of surveillance cameras inside a school attended by children aged 6 to 14.

“How can we blindly entrust the sensitive data of our children in this way, without any transparency or even an informational meeting?” Kaso said, concerned about the lack of discussion with parents regarding this intervention.

Another concern relates to the centralization of this data by the State Police and its protection, at a time when digital security in the country has faced numerous problems.

“We know only from the media that when the children return to their desks in September, the surveillance system will be active. Even with an initiative that was less questionable, such a way of operating would be concerning,” Kaso added.

Journalist and activist with the “Parents for Quality Education” group, Ermelinda Hoxhaj, also believes that the mass deployment of cameras creates an oppressive environment in itself, while criticizing the institutions for failing to consult parents.

“With this project, I believe the issue goes beyond security; this is where a major risk of violating the privacy of children and adolescents begins,” Hoxhaj warned, arguing that constant monitoring risks increasing students’ psychological stress.

For education experts, the installation of cameras is proof that superficial technological solutions are replacing the missing debate over the fundamental causes of violence in Albanian society, as well as the problems facing minors.

Vjerdha of “Qëndresa Qytetare” says that, in Martin Cani’s case, the conflict had been widely identified within the school environment before the killing occurred. This means the system had information that cameras are supposedly intended to provide, but the entire chain of prevention—from school administrators to the security officer and psychologist—failed fatally to prevent the loss of life.

According to Vjerdha, to date the public has seen “neither an audit of these links nor concrete measures against the institutions that failed to function.” He points out that under these circumstances, the government’s investment focused on Artificial Intelligence is insufficient and does not promise a solution, since the education system operates with inadequate capacity, with a psychologist-to-student ratio of approximately 1 to 506, often without confidential workspaces for dealing with trauma.

“They [the cameras] do not identify psychological bullying, do not detect a child’s social isolation, do not address depression, do not intervene in conflicts that arise outside the camera’s field of view, and do not replace human decision-making. Safety in schools is built on the presence of professionals, not on technology. Technology is an auxiliary tool, not the main policy,” Vjerdha noted.

Gentian Serjani, a lawyer and human rights activist, takes a similar view. According to him, cameras cannot replace the lack of social and psychological support faced by children today.

“What was missing, and what cameras cannot replace, was a response at the right time and in the right manner from the educational institution’s responsible structure,” Serjani said, analyzing the tragic killing of Martin Cani.

“If we think the solution will come solely from installing cameras, unfortunately we have strayed from the right path toward providing an effective solution,” he stressed.

Who guarantees the security of the cameras?!

The project’s rapid implementation, without addressing the inherited human failures, leaves an opening for cybersecurity risks, while taking place in a legal gray area and without the proper regulations.

Orkidea Xhaferaj, a cybersecurity expert at the SCiDEV organization, stresses that the project suffers from a fundamental lack of transparency, accountability and complete information, leaving citizens with only “fragments of what will be done.”

According to her, the use of Artificial Intelligence to analyze biometric data collected by smart cameras automatically classifies the system as “high risk,” making the immediate implementation of strong safeguards against misuse necessary.

Xhaferaj also added that the situation is even more alarming because of the current legal gap in Albania, where the new law on Artificial Intelligence, which completed its public consultation only in June, has not yet entered into force to legally regulate these systems.

“In addition to the footage collected by the cameras, the systems process the data and cross-reference it, generating new knowledge and information. What happens to this?” Xhaferaj asked, adding that the subjects being monitored are minors, which requires the direct involvement of their parents.

According to her, the country needs to establish an independent authority to audit these systems, and she stresses the necessity of proactive transparency regarding subcontractors’ access to the system—particularly essential given the history of successive cyberattacks against the country’s critical digital infrastructure.

“I believe that, following the continued cyberattacks against institutions and critical digital infrastructure, institutions must provide greater guarantees to citizens. There must be proactive transparency about the steps and measures being taken in order to build citizens’ trust,” she said.

Vjerdha and Serjani also share security concerns, saying that citizens must be fully informed about the system. The lawyer also recalls that similar measures, such as the TikTok ban, had zero effect, and that the killings of minors continued in other cases in Maliq and Durrës.

Vjerdha, for his part, is not opposed to the project in principle.

“This does not mean that cameras are necessarily wrong. Installing them in common areas could have a positive effect on increasing security and documenting incidents,” he said.

But according to him, their use must be accompanied by very clear protocols for their administration and access, and the protection of minors’ personal data must be guaranteed.

“Without these guarantees, there is a risk that a security policy could turn into an unjustified surveillance mechanism,” he concluded. /BIRN

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