Law Times

LAW TIMES COVERING ONTARIO'S LEGAL SCENE | APRIL 15, 2019 9 www.lawtimesnews.com BY MICHAEL MCKIERNAN For Law Times T oronto's Quayside develop- ment project has given the city's inhabitants a unique opportunity to confront the data and privacy implications of smart cities, according to an Ot- tawa law professor. Teresa Scassa, a Canada Re- search Chair in Information Law at the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law, says the "smart city" term has emerged as the catch-all label for sensor-loaded and networked urban spaces where data is collected and then used to solve the problems and inefficiencies they help identify. Connected devices generat- ing the data in question include transit pass cards and traffic cameras, as well as smart meters installed on municipally or pri- vately owned infrastructure. In Waterfront Toronto's Quayside project, the multi- government agency has said it intends to establish part of the city's eastern lakeshore as an "international showcase for in- novative solutions" in the realms of housing, energy conservation, carbon reduction and more. But the project, launched in partnership with Sidewalk Labs, a sister company of search en- gine giant Google, is far from typical when it comes to smart- city advances, says Scassa, who sits on the Digital Strategy Ad- visory Panel formed to guide the Quayside development. "What is much more com- mon is that cities will adopt certain technologies on an in- cremental and piecemeal basis," she says. "There has been a lot of controversy and ink spilled about this project, and because it has been such a lightning rod, it means that conversations are happening around governance issues in a good way. "It has also helped govern- ments and a variety of other different actors to realize the im- portance of these issues, which otherwise don't seem to be un- derstood or responded to in the same way," Scassa adds. When municipalities ap- proach smart city ideas in a less comprehensive manner, she says, data governance and priva- cy policies end up being set on a contract-by-contract basis, often slipping under the public radar. Key issues to be determined include the ownership of any data generated: It could belong to the city, the private sector partner or both, Scassa says, not- ing that each sides' expectations may change depending on who is performing any data analysis resulting from the collection. Related to ownership is the extent to which data can be ac- cessed and shared, who with, and under what terms and con- ditions, she adds. If a private company maintains ownership, it will likely preclude the mu- nicipality from sharing raw data with other parties who may be able to draw their own poten- tially valuable insights from it, including researchers, develop- ers or start-up firms. "The reality is that many cities are entering agreements which impact on people's per- sonal privacy without much de- bate or discussion, if any at all, about these questions," Scassa says. "But the decisions that are made in these contracts can have implications down the road in terms of transparency and the openness of data." But in Toronto, where conver- sations are occurring in a more open way, Scassa says ordinary citizens and interested stake- holders have been vocal about their concerns. Late last year, that prompted Sidewalk Labs to respond with a proposal to bar any one entity from owning data collected in Quayside and the creation of an independent Civic Data Trust tasked with ruling on requests for data collection and dissemination. But the idea did not assuage all of the firm's critics, who re- tained worries over the location and storage of data, as provincial Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk noted in her December 2018 re- port, which suggested slowing the pace of the Quayside devel- opment. "The Province lacks a policy framework to guide the develop- ment of a mixed-use smart city such as the one being contem- plated for Quayside," Lysyk con- cluded. "To protect the public in- terest, such a framework should address intellectual property; data collection, ownership, se- curity and privacy; legal issues; consumer protection issues; in- frastructure development; and economic development." Kevin McGivney, a partner at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP in Toronto, developed an interest in smart cities as an outgrowth of his insurance and tort liability practice, dealing largely with liti- gation involving municipalities. His firm recently identified smart cities in its report on the "Top Innovative Industries Shap- ing the Canadian Economy" and McGivney sees the attraction for cities looking to take advantage of technological developments in an increasingly urban world. "Sensors can be placed in public places to indicate when infrastructure needs mainte- nance or to target resources de- pending on how much traffic they receive. There are all sorts of things that can be done to im- prove safety, cut costs and boost efficiency, and it's going to be in- teresting to see how it develops," he says. LT Teresa Scassa says when municipali- ties approach smart city ideas in a less comprehensive manner, data governance and privacy policies end up being set on a contract-by-contract basis. FOCUS Controversy has emerged Development project raises questions around smart cities TF: 1.888.223.0448 T: 416.868.3100 www.thomsonrogers.com CALL THE LAND MINDS MUNICIPAL LAWYERS DENITZA KOEV AARIA S. RAHIM DAVID N. GERMAIN AL BURTON STEPHEN J. D'AGOSTINO JEFFREY J. WILKER Thomson Rogers is a leader in Municipal, Expropriation and Planning Law. Our dedicated team of lawyers is known for accepting the most difficult and challenging cases. We welcome the opportunity to speak or meet with you about potential referrals. For more information, visit: www.thomsonrogers.com/municipal. Untitled-2 1 2019-04-09 4:35 PM

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