Citing concerns including lack of independent oversight, Ontario’s information and privacy commissioner says he remains “unconvinced” that Sidewalk Labs’ proposed urban data trust is the most effective way to protect privacy rights around smart-city projects.

Sidewalk Labs, a Manhattan-based urban innovation firm, is proposing to create a sensor-driven smart neighbourhood on Toronto’s eastern waterfront.

The Google sister company wants to use the sensors to gather urban data (data collected in the public realm or some private settings) such as non-personal data about weather conditions and temperature, aggregate data that is not about particular individuals, deidentified data and personal data.

Sidewalk Labs, which has partnered with Waterfront Toronto, wants to launch its project on a 12-acre plot near Queens Quay E. and Parliament St. called Quayside and released its master plan for the district in June.

Among the plans, Sidewalk Labs has put forward “digital governance proposals” including a call for establishing an independent urban data trust to manage the data collected at Quayside by both public and private sector interests.

But in a letter this week to Waterfront Toronto board chair Steve Diamond, Information and Privacy Commissioner Brian Beamish says the proposed trust is “problematic” for a number of reasons.

“Absent a legislative framework to protect privacy and access rights, ensure best practices and provide independent oversight, the trust model is not adequate,” Beamish writes.

Instead, he recommends the provincial government conduct an open review of Sidewalk Labs’ civic data trust proposal and “determine whether it or some other legislative scheme should be enacted to govern privacy” in smart city projects including Quayside.

If the province decides to pursue Sidewalk Labs’ trust concept, “it must be supported by a clear regulatory framework that sets out the trust’s authority, mandate,” and a mechanism for independent oversight, Beamish writes.

He added the City of Toronto must also have a “clearer role” in Sidewalk Labs’ overall project and said he is troubled by how the proposal would require the city and other public sector bodies to apply to the data trust to collect or use any urban data in the geographical area of Sidewalk Labs’ project.

Beamish went on to say our privacy and access to data laws are “out-dated,” but rather than turning to Sidewalk Labs to develop solutions such as the data trust, the Quayside project provides an “opportunity” for the provincial government to take the lead and modernize the laws to address “legislative shortcomings.”

Beamish’s office oversees Ontario’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and its municipal equivalent, which establish rules over the collection, use and disclosure of personal information and provide a right of access to information held by public institutions.

(The federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act applies to private sector engagement in commercial activities).

In his letter, Beamish says ultimately the provincial and federal governments are “best-placed” to define the “digital governance framework” for Sidewalk Labs’ project and all other smart-city projects in the province.

“We encourage the relevant governments to consult with our office to design an appropriate framework to ensure that privacy, accountability and ethical practices are at the forefront of these types of complex personal information practices,” Beamish says.

Regarding the urban data trust, “the commissioner’s position is consistent with the concerns Waterfront Toronto has raised about this proposed model,” Waterfront Toronto spokesperson Andrew Tumilty said in a statement Thursday.

Responding to the Beamish letter, Sidewalk Labs said it “supports the robust and healthy discussion” regarding privacy, data ownership and data governance that has been generated from the firm’s proposal.

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“We believe Toronto, Ontario and Canada will become global leaders” in inclusive and innovative smart cities, due to the work taking place at all levels of government on digital policy, Sidewalk Labs spokesperson Keerthana Rang said.

“We are committed to complying with all existing policies, and are prepared to comply with any future policies,” she added.

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