Smart city initiatives could potentially face premature demise due to excessive caution and fear-mongering
Sidewalk Toronto, a 12-acre development project in Quayside, Toronto, is being developed by Sidewalk Labs, an Alphabet subsidiary. The project aims to integrate sensor networks and various technologies for a smart city, with goals including sustainability, accessibility, economic opportunity, and the construction of 2,500 housing units, nearly half of which would be under market value.
However, the development has faced criticism and concerns about potential privacy issues and inappropriate data collection. Critics, including privacy activists such as the World Privacy Forum, have raised questions about data ownership and use. In May 2018, Sidewalk Labs published a draft version of its Responsible Data Use Policy Framework, but concerns about data governance persisted.
In October 2018, Sidewalk Labs published the results of extensive public consultation about responsible data use. The company also announced plans to create a civic data trust to de-identify and publish all data collected from public spaces in Sidewalk Toronto. Despite these efforts, Toronto's executive committee has announced a comprehensive review of the Sidewalk Toronto development plan.
The delay in the release of the Master Innovation and Development Plan (MIDP) has allowed activists to amplify fears about unjust data collection practices and a lack of transparency. Bianca Wylie, an advocate, posits a scenario where resident aggregate data could be sold back to the government in Sidewalk Toronto.
Ontario's former privacy commissioner, Ann Cavoukian, accused the project of becoming a "Smart City of Surveillance." In response, Sidewalk Labs stated that it cannot dictate data governance practices of other companies, emphasizing the need for a citywide policy framework and data governance model to clarify questions about data ownership and use.
Sidewalk Toronto offers lessons for firms and municipal governments: proactively addressing activists' concerns is crucial for smart city success. Portland has launched a pilot with Sidewalk Labs for collecting anonymized mobile location data for urban planning, but this pilot has also faced criticism.
The damage to Sidewalk Labs' reputation, cast as a bad actor, was already done due to these concerns. However, the potential benefits of Sidewalk Toronto for municipal agencies, Torontonians, and future smart cities initiatives should not be overlooked. As the comprehensive review of the development plan unfolds, it will be interesting to see how Sidewalk Toronto addresses these concerns and moves forward in its mission to create a smart city.
Read also:
- Exploring Harry Potter's Lineage: Decoding the Enigma of His Half-Blood Ancestry
- Elon Musk Acquires 26,400 Megawatt Gas Turbines for Powering His AI Project, Overlooks Necessary Permits for Operation!
- U Power's strategic collaborator UNEX EV has inked a Letter of Intent with Didi Mobility to deploy UOTTA(TM) battery-swapping electric vehicles in Mexico.
- Global Gaming Company, LINEUP Games, Moves Into Extensive Global Web3 Multi-Platform Gaming Network
