Sidewalk Labs stressed that private data would be protected as part of its long-awaited master plan, including a pledge that information will be collected under rigid guidelines and overseen by an independent trust. But despite those continued assurances privacy advocates still have serious concerns.“Torontonians challenged us at every step and that made the plan better,” Sidewalk Labs CEO Dan Doctoroff, speaking to the media after the more than 1,500-page document was released on Monday. “We heard serious concerns about privacy. Boy, did we hear concerns about privacy.”What Google’s sister firm is now calling the “urban data trust” would be in charge of balancing personal privacy, public interest and innovation, and would establish a clear process for approving any initiative that involves the collection or use of “urban data” — defined in the master plan as information gathered “in the city’s physical environment, including the public realm, publicly available space and even some private buildings.”The trust will be managed through a democratic process, according to the proposal, and Doctoroff said it “will operate consistent with and addition to existing and future privacy laws in Ontario and Canada.” It would establish a set of Responsible Data Use (RDU) Guidelines that would apply to anyone looking to collect or use urban data in its ambitious 190-acre Innovative Development and Economic Acceleration (IDEA) District proposed for eastern waterfront, which includes the 12-acre Quayside site near Parliament St. and Queens Quay E. and 20 acres of the yet-to-be-developed, city-owned property in the Port Lands called “Villiers West.”In a presentation accompanying the release of the master plan, Sidewalk committed to not disclosing personal information to third parties without explicit consent, not selling personal information and not using personal information fo ...
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