One of the world’s leading privacy experts has stepped down from her advisory role with Sidewalk Labs, Google’s sister company, which is preparing to build a data-driven neighbourhood at the foot of Parliament St.It’s a development one tech expert characterized as “a major blow to the legitimacy of the project.”Ann Cavoukian, former Information and Privacy commissioner of Ontario, tendered her resignation letter on Friday, writing that the proposed protection of personal data “is not acceptable.”Cavoukian believes the plan for the Quayside smart-city development does not adequately protect individual privacy, and data collected from sensors, surveillance cameras and smartphones must be de-identified at source.“Just think of the consequences: If personally identifiable data are not de-identified at source, we will be creating another central database of personal information (controlled by whom?), that may be used without data subjects’ consent, that will be exposed to the risks of hacking and unauthorized access,” she wrote in her letter to Sidewalk Labs.“As we all know, existing methods of encryption are not infallible and may be broken, potentially exposing the personal data of Waterfront Toronto residents! Why take such risks?”Read more:Waterfront Toronto, advisory panel want Quayside master plan delayedSidewalk Labs will be a ‘catalyst’ for other innovations in Quayside, CEO saysSidewalk Labs promises not to control data collected in Quayside’s public spacesThe planned collaboration between Sidewalk Labs and Waterfront Toronto plan imagines a city of the future on 12-acres of the eastern waterfront at Parliament and Queens Quay. The project would be so data-rich that it has been fraught with concern about what would happen to that collected information. Three advisers have previously stepped back from the project citing privacy concerns.Cavoukian’s resignation came ...
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