“In October (2018), Ann Cavoukian, the Director of Privacy for Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs smart neighborhood project in Toronto (an advanced smart city project) resigned after learning that not all data collected from residents would be de-identified at the source. In her resignation letter, Cavoukian likened the project to a “smart city of surveillance,” highlighting privacy concerns…

The digital economy requires a legal environment fit for the future. As emerging technologies create new business models, there grows a pressing need for creating, modifying and enforcing regulations. Yet, the challenge is finding a delicate balance between protecting public interests and allowing the innovation to flourish. Germany’s BDI[1] and Noerr LLP, a leading European law firm, presented…