A/HRC/43/29 and create new forms of segregation and neglect, with older persons abandoned in their private homes or deprived of human interactions. Attention must be paid to ensure that technologies designed to assist older persons do not stigmatize them as frail and needy, which would have a disempowering effect on them and perpetuate dependency and indignity. Electronic surveillance and monitoring technologies could result in unwanted supervision that could even take place without an older person’s consent or conscious knowledge (ibid., para. 52). 24. The use of big data and artificial intelligence in the health context poses significant risks to patients’ right to privacy regarding sensitive health data and other personal information. With the growth of consumer health technologies such as wearable technology and smartphone applications, the creation, processing, exchange and sale of vast amounts of health data have increased worldwide (A/71/368, para. 13). This trend accompanies the increased risk of inadvertent disclosure of sensitive health-related patient data from healthcare institutions, but also of unwarranted sharing with third parties. A further concern is the ability of artificial intelligence to infer and predict health conditions that individuals have not voluntarily disclosed, which may result in the denial of health insurance. Policy frameworks for the right to health need to protect the right to privacy and security in the use of digital health technologies such as biometric identification. Suitable regulation is also needed to ensure the quality and safety of software products, devices and applications that not only are used in primary health care, but also may be directly marketed or otherwise available to individuals.12 D. Right to an adequate standard of living 25. Over half of the world’s population today lives in urban areas, a number expected to rise to 68 per cent by 2050.13 Cities are often the centre of innovations and new technologies, as they host universities, research institutions and major technology industries. Increasingly, many cities are harnessing the power of new technologies to address the challenges posed by urbanization, to design and manage the complex interactions of energy, transport, water and waste, and to advance the goals of the New Urban Agenda and of Sustainable Development Goal 11 on making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. 26. Effective and accountable use of information and communications technology and digital technologies can help urban planners and residents to enhance equitable access to urban services and opportunities. Conscious and targeted efforts and a broader participatory process are necessary to ensure that new technologies support the better realization of economic, social and cultural rights, such as the rights to housing, water and sanitation, for the most disadvantaged people. Without such efforts, there is a risk that efforts related to smart cities may not necessarily be focused on improving the quality of urban life for all and providing better access to quality services, particularly for poor and the disadvantaged people. 27. The wave of recent technological advances, such as the digitization of land and property data, cloud computing and the emergence of digital platforms, are contributing to a process of financialization of housing that is happening at a much faster pace and is deeper in scope than previously. The social and cultural value of housing may also be undermined by technologies enabling private actors to transform housing and real estate markets into financial instruments and a commodity of choice for investment. Digital platforms facilitating short-term rentals have contributed to driving up rent to a level that is no longer affordable for many residents in some locations. 14 Some governmental authorities have 12 13 14 6 World Health Organization, “Digital technologies: shaping the future of primary health care”, 2018, p. 6. World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.20.II.A.1), p. xix. Desiree Fields and Dallas Rogers, “Towards a critical housing studies research agenda on platform real estate”, Housing, Theory and Society, 2019, p. 4.