Privacy concerns rehashed at Sidewalk Labs consultation

People at a public meeting to discuss plans for a high-tech neighbourhood on Toronto's waterfront rehashed their concerns over privacy today.

Since the partnership between Waterfront Toronto and Google-affiliated Sidewalk Labs was announced in October 2017, the proposal has been marred by questions over how data will be collected, kept, accessed and protected.

Waterfront Toronto's chief development officer Meg Davis says more detail, including data governance, will be included in a master draft of the project which she says will be completed in January 2019.

But she says the draft will only be available to Sidewalk Labs, Waterfront Toronto and three levels of government to ensure it abides by policies and regulations before it is made public.

Bianca Wylie, who co-founded Tech Reset Canada and has openly criticized the project's public consultation processes, says she believes the draft should be made public immediately to ensure transparency on how decisions are being made on the project moving forward.

Davis says the draft will not be made public immediately so that people won't get their "hopes up" about aspects of the project that may not be approved.