Beset by public criticism, a smart city development planned for Toronto’s waterfront faces fresh condemnation from prominent business people over privacy issues.
Residents of the city had previously started the #BlockSidewalk movement in reaction to the opaqueness of Google-stablemate Sidewalk Labs’ planning to date.
This collected backlash follows a recent lawsuit by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, who want the project halted over concerns of ‘surveillance capitalism’.
The quayside project is a concept from Sidewalk Labs, which is owned by Google parent company Alphabet.
The plan is to revitalise a run-down stretch of Toronto’s waterfront, crafting it into the most technologically advanced and data-driven district in any of the world’s cities.
However, resistance to the project has been growing in the form of a public campaign, a lawsuit, and prominent resignations — with the firm having failed to assuage concerns it will not abuse data gathered by the smart city.
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