Google’s “Smart City of Surveillance” Faces New Resistance in Toronto

ronjor · Nov 14, 2018

Ava Kofman November 13 2018

The world’s most ambitious “smart city,” known as Quayside, in Toronto, has faced fierce public criticism since last fall, when the plans to build a neighborhood “from the internet up” were first revealed. Quayside represents a joint effort by the Canadian government agency Waterfront Toronto and Sidewalk Labs, which is owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc., to develop 12 acres of the valuable waterfront just southeast of downtown Toronto.
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mirimir · Nov 14, 2018

"City of Surveillance". That has quite the ring to it Why not just call it "Panopticon City"? I mean, it'll be so convenient and safe!

guest · Nov 14, 2018

People can cry all they want, it will be reality sooner or later.

Reality · Nov 14, 2018

guest said: ↑

People can cry all they want, it will be reality sooner or later.
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Yes and more likely sooner than later, and it won't only be in Toronto.

ronjor · Dec 7, 2018

Ontario government fires 3 directors after Google deal

By Rob Gillies, Associated Press TORONTO — Dec 7, 2018
Ontario's provincial government has fired three board members from a government organization working with a Google-affiliated company to create a smart-city development in Toronto. The move raises doubt about the development's future.
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guest · Jun 24, 2019

Google Sibling Sidewalk Labs Unveils ‘Smart City’ Plans For Toronto Waterfront
June 24, 2019
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jillia...labs-smart-city-plans-for-toronto-waterfront/

After a year and a half of public hearings and criticism, Google sibling company Sidewalk Labs just unveiled its master plan to redevelop a stretch of Toronto’s waterfront with “smart” features like snow-melting roadways, an underground delivery system and a slew of data-collecting sensors.
The 1,500-plus-page planning document, viewable in segments below, will go through a lengthy evaluation and public review process as the city decides whether to move forward.

Meanwhile, concerns about privacy and data collection have been rife within the planning process.
Waterfront Toronto said in a statement that based on a read-through of the plans, it will require additional information to establish whether the initial proposals are in compliance with applicable laws and its own data principles.
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Waterfront Toronto - open letter

guest · Aug 10, 2019

The Risks of a Smart City
August 9, 2019
https://www.hackread.com/the-risks-of-a-smart-city

With all the positives that smart cities bring, there doesn’t seem to be any certain negatives.
However, smart cities definitely have their set of negatives, and that’s because you can never be too secure in this day and age. With everything being connected in a smart city, what can you hide?

A recent example of this is Toronto’s smart city project that was planned earlier last year with the help of Google subsidiary Sidewalk Labs.
The project laid low news-wise until data privacy expert Ann Cavoukian resigned due to data and personal information not being deidentified.
A smart city must promise to be transparent about how data will be used, and the use of the data should not have to be hidden.

However, citizens should be promised that their data will be erased as soon as it’s put in. Why should the government know the specifics of what I’m purchasing or my preferred restaurant?
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Smart cities won’t be the hallmark of the world for a long time, I’m afraid. Governments and companies have a hard time respecting data privacy now, so I could only imagine what would happen if smart cities became standard.
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guest · Aug 21, 2019

Smart cities dumb down privacy concerns
Will Sidewalk Labs be kicked to the curb in Toronto? Dave Lewis takes a closer look at the controversies surrounding the Google-backed initiative
August 21, 2019
https://portswigger.net/daily-swig/smart-cities-dumb-down-privacy-concerns-nbsp

One such project in Toronto, Canada, has been faced with pushback. The smart city initiative, run by Sidewalk Labs and backed by Google’s parent company Alphabet, has been generating a lot of concern here in Canada from a privacy perspective.

I’m not alone in these concerns. Multiple advisors have resigned from the project. The issue is how the data collected will be used. Sensors will be monitoring every aspect of life on this patch of prime real estate east of the downtown core in Toronto in the name of “sustainability, affordability, mobility, and economic opportunity.”
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) took a step further in filing a lawsuit against Sidewalk Labs and all three levels of government who had signed on to this project.

It’s a sticky wicket that Sidewalk Labs and the federal, provincial, and municipal levels of government will have their work cut out for them to navigate this quandary.
[...] there needs to be greater transparency on how the data will be used and most importantly, protected. Smart cities are a good idea on the face of it, but privacy cannot be a casualty in the process.
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guest · Oct 30, 2019

Sidewalk Labs, Waterfront Toronto meet to decide future of project
October 30, 2019
https://statescoop.com/sidewalk-labs-waterfront-toronto-quayside-controversy/

The future of Toronto’s “smart neighborhood” project in the city’s Quayside district will be decided on Thursday.
The neighborhood’s intergovernmental development agency, Waterfront Toronto, will hold a board of directors meeting Thursday morning to determine whether key elements of the controversial project — including how data is collected and stored, whether new transit will be built and the size of the development — have been sufficiently addressed by the city’s development partner, Sidewalk Labs.

Diamond also raised issue with Sidewalk Labs’ [...] and the group’s data-storage proposal that would have involved an independent data trust and that he said would not have met Waterfront Toronto’s privacy standards.

“Whether the Quayside project proceeds or not, the conversation we are having is important for all of Toronto,” Diamond wrote in the letter.
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ronjor · Nov 15, 2019

Alphabet features self-driving garbage cans, apartment noise monitors in Toronto smart city project

Moira Warburton November 15, 2019
TORONTO (Reuters) - Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs has provided more details on the technology it intends to use to develop a futuristic smart city in Toronto, which includes self-driving garbage cans and infra-red sensors to track foot traffic in stores, a document released by the company on Friday said.
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ronjor · Feb 27, 2020

Alphabet still facing questions over data use in its Toronto smart city project proposal

Moira Warburton February 26, 2020
TORONTO (Reuters) - Alphabet’s proposed “smart” city development in Toronto is facing fresh questions over the project’s data-gathering technology from a panel advising the Canadian government-mandated body in charge of getting it built.
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guest · Mar 27, 2020

Coronavirus delays Toronto's 'smart city' decision
March 26, 2020
https://statescoop.com/coronavirus-delays-torontos-smart-city-decision/

[...] the city’s waterfront regulation agency decided on Thursday to extend the deadline for a decision related to its Quayside “smart city” project. The decision revolves around whether Sidewalk Labs, the Google-sibling company vying to develop part of the city’s eastern shore, will be able to move forward with its plans to build.

The board cited the evolving COVID-19 pandemic as the reason for the extension, and announced on Twitter that it would extend the public comment period to April 9, as well. [...] — Waterfront Toronto (@WaterfrontTO) March 26, 2020
A human rights impact assessment of Sidewalk Labs’ master plan will also be delayed as a result of Thursday’s decision, according to the agency.
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guest · May 7, 2020

Alphabet's Scrapping Its Smart City Dreams
May 7, 2020
https://gizmodo.com/alphabets-scrapping-its-smart-city-dreams-1843316113

For the past two years and change, Google’s smart-city-centric sister company Sidewalk Labs has put millions on the line to build what it called a model smart city in downtown Toronto.

Ultimately though, it wasn’t the critics that would shut these city plans down. Instead, according to a Medium post made earlier today by Sidewalk CEO David Doctoroff, the plans for Quayside will be scrapped due to the pandemic-induced plunge in local real estate.

[...] it has become too difficult to make the 12-acre project financially viable without sacrificing core parts of the plan we had developed together with Waterfront Toronto to build a truly inclusive, sustainable community.
And so, after a great deal of deliberation, we concluded that it no longer made sense to proceed with the Quayside project, and let Waterfront Toronto know yesterday.
A surveillance-fueled city might be off the table for now, but according to Doctoroff, Sidewalk will keep supporting its spinoffs.
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With great sadness and disappointment we announce that @sidewalklabs will no longer pursue the Quayside project in Toronto. We’re grateful to @WaterfrontTO and all Torontonians who contributed to this effort these past 2.5 years. CEO @DanDoctoroff has more https://t.co/VrNI4cSCzM
— Sidewalk Toronto (@SidewalkToronto) May 7, 2020
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