The push for a Google-affiliated high-tech neighbourhood has Torontonians worried about data protection and privacy but eager for innovations on everything from housing to pet ownership.Sidewalk Labs, the Manhattan-based urban innovation firm co-developing the proposal, on Wednesday released a “description report” on public consultations to date.It’s a goalpost in a yearlong process launched last October when Sidewalk Labs, a unit of Google parent Alphabet Inc., won a Waterfront Toronto contest to partner on plans for a live-and-work district on 12 acres of former industrial land at Queens Quay and Parliament St.Read more: Sidewalk Labs addresses privacy concerns over proposed high-tech Quayside districtThe risks of becoming a Google cityOpinion | Edward Keenan: Travel through time across Toronto with help from Google’s Sidewalk LabsThe firm says it wants to use technology, including sensors collecting and analyzing huge amounts of data, to help solve urban living problems including pedestrian safety, housing costs and inequality.Torontonians’ questions submitted online and during a March town hall include: “Will Alphabet own the data, and how will it be shared or used? Will the data be stored in servers in the United States? If so, will this data be accessible to the U.S. government?”“Numerous residents expressed concern about how the data that could be generated and collected in this kind of technology-driven community will be gathered, stored, and used,” the report states, adding many want guarantees the information will be stored on servers in Canada.“Residents strongly emphasized that the collection of data should be transparent and consensual,” and worry about an “overemphasis on technology” rather than good, innovative design.Other concerns include whether residents of, and visitors to, the proposed “Quayside” district could opt out of data collection, if Toronto wou ...
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