The 12-acre Quayside project, a partnership between Google’s Sidewalk Labs and the city of Toronto, has come under increasing scrutiny amid concerns over privacy and data harvesting. “The smart city project on the Toronto waterfront is the most highly evolved version to date of … surveillance capitalism”, he wrote to the city council, suggesting Google will use “algorithms to nudge human behavior” in ways to “favor its business”. “I imagined us creating a Smart City of Privacy, as opposed to a Smart City of Surveillance,” she wrote in her resignation letter. In statement to Guardian Cities, Sidewalk Labs rejected McNamee’s allegations, adding that while they welcomed public debate, “[he] does not seem very familiar with what Sidewalk Labs is actually proposing”. Toronto city council is set to discuss McNamee’s letter – and Sidewalk Labs – at Thursday’s meeting.

Source: The Guardian June 06, 2019 09:00 UTC