In our last issue, I talked about how researchers recently found that ordinary Wi-Fi routers could identify individuals with 99.5% accuracy. But that shocking revelation only hints at a much bigger privacy concern. Cities around the world are beginning to fill themselves with connected technology designed to make daily life run more smoothly. We call them “smart cities.” Places where traffic lights adjust automatically, sensors reduce congestion and connected streets help emergency responders react faster. Some systems can even direct drivers to the nearest open parking spot before they start circling the block. But all this tech-driven convenience is creating an entirely new challenge: Who owns all the information these systems create? AI is changing the answer. And as it becomes even more powerful, privacy could soon mean something very different than it does today. The Privacy Problem Comes to Town One of the most famous smart city experiments started in Toronto. In 2017, Sidewalk Labs, a sister company to Google, announced plans to help build a futuristic neighborhood along the city’s waterfront. The idea was to use sensors, connected infrastructure and data to make urban life cleaner, safer and more efficient. On paper, it sounded like exactly the kind of project cities should want. It promised less traffic, lower energy use, better public transit and more efficient buildings. But the project quickly ran into a problem that had nothing to do with whether the technology worked. Instead, people wanted to know what would happen to all the data these systems collected. Ann Cavoukian, Ontario’s former privacy commissioner, even resigned as a consultant after raising concerns that the project wouldn’t require data to be de-identified at the source. That concern eventually helped derail the project. That concern eventually helped derail the project. And it highlights something investors should pay attention