The Toronto Star reports on a tool Sidewalk Labs plans to sell to Illinois that it also plans to bring to its Sidewalk Toronto smart-city project. The tool, called Replica, maps out commuting patterns based on cellphone location data. Sidewalk Labs claims it de-identifies the information in order to protect user privacy, but Canadian privacy professionals are concerned about the use of Replica in the country. “This is precisely the type of technology that shows the unique power of citizen and sensor data. If this is introduced in Toronto it will have major implications for privacy, prosperity, values and democracy,” Former Research in Motion CEO Jim Balsillie said.
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