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October 31, 2019 10:50 pm

Google's Sidewalk Labs Leaked Document Reveals Company's Early Vision For Data Collection, Tax Powers, Criminal Justice

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Globe and Mail: A confidential Sidewalk Labs document from 2016 lays out the founding vision of the Google-affiliated development company, which included having the power to levy its own property taxes, track and predict people's movements and control some public services. The document, which The Globe and Mail has seen, also describes how people living in a Sidewalk community would interact with and have access to the space around them -- an experience based, in part, on how much data they're willing to share, and which could ultimately be used to reward people for "good behavior." Known internally as the "yellow book," the document was designed as a pitch book for the company, and predates Sidewalk's relationship and formal agreements with Toronto by more than a year. Peppered with references to Disney theme parks and noted futurist Buckminster Fuller, it says Sidewalk intended to "overcome cynicism about the future." But the 437-page book documents how much private control of city services and city life Google parent company Alphabet Inc.'s leadership envisioned when it created the company, which could soon be entitled to some of the most valuable underdeveloped real estate in North America, estimated by one firm to be worth more than half-a-billion dollars. Since 2017, Sidewalk has been in negotiations with the government agency Waterfront Toronto to redevelop a lucrative section of the city's derelict eastern waterfront. Both parties have been working toward a development deal ahead of an Oct. 31 vote, which The Globe reported Tuesday is expected to be on terms that are favorable to Waterfront Toronto. That includes a reduction in the amount of land Sidewalk would have control over, better guarantees for privacy in the neighborhood and better opportunities for Canadian entities to profit from innovations there. "Sidewalk will require tax and financing authority to finance and provide services, including the ability to impose, capture and reinvest property taxes," the book said. The company would also create and control its own public services, including charter schools, special transit systems and a private road infrastructure. As for public safety and criminal justice, the book mentions "an alternative approach to jail," using data from so-called "root-cause asseessment tools." "This would guide officials in determining a response when someone is arrested, such as sending someone to a substance abuse center," reports The Globe. "The overall criminal justice system and policing of serious crimes and emergencies would be 'likely to remain within the purview of the host government's police department,' however." Sidewalk Labs released its official plan in June, which includes building ten new buildings, integrating Toronto's light-rail system to serve the new neighborhood, and installing public Wi-Fi.

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