
Sidewalk Labs document reveals company’s early vision - panic
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-sidewalk-labs-document-reveals-companys-early-plans-for-data/
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52-6F-62
This is really troubling. I hope we can see some actual discussion on the
subject. An excerpt:

> _The book mentions both the data-collection opportunities for police forces
> (Sidewalk notes it would ask for local policing powers similar to those
> granted to universities) and the possibility of “an alternative approach to
> jail,” using data from “root-cause assessment tools” that would guide
> officials in finding an appropriate response when someone is arrested. 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._

> _Data collection plays a central role throughout the book. Early on, the
> company notes that a Sidewalk neighbourhood would collect real-time position
> data “for all entities” – including people. The company would also collect a
> “historical record of where things have been and vector information about
> where they are going.” Furthermore, unique data identifiers would be
> generated for “every person, business or object registered in the district,”
> helping devices communicate with each other._

> _There would be a quid pro quo to sharing more data with Sidewalk, however.
> The document describes a tiered level of services, where people willing to
> share data can access certain perks and privileges others may not. Sidewalk
> visitors and residents would be “encouraged to add data about themselves and
> connect their accounts, either to take advantage of premium services like
> unlimited wireless connectivity or to make interactions in the district
> easier,” it says._

> _Shoshana Zuboff, the Harvard professor emerita whose book The Age of
> Surveillance Capitalism investigates the way Alphabet and other big-tech
> companies are reshaping the world, called the document’s revelations
> “damning.” The community Alphabet sought to build when it launched Sidewalk
> Labs, she said, was like a “for-profit China” that would “use digital
> infrastructure to modify and direct social and political behaviour.”_

> _While Sidewalk has since moved away from many of the details in its yellow
> book, Prof. Zuboff contends that Alphabet tends to “say what needs be said
> to achieve commercial objectives, while specifically camouflaging their
> actual corporate strategy.”_

> _According to the document, personalization would increase as users
> contributed more data, leading to “more complete or personalized services
> from Project Sidewalk in return.” An example states that people choosing to
> share “in-home fire safety sensor” data could receive advice on health and
> safety related to air quality, or provide additional information to first
> responders in case of an emergency._

