Item - 2025.IE22.1

That:

1. City Council amend Infrastructure and Environment Committee Recommendation 2 by:

a. adding the words "or the consent of the City," after the words "or consent"; and

b. deleting the words "indefinite storage, analysis and manipulation for its own benefit" and replacing them with the words "collection, use and storage for their own benefit,"

so that it now reads as follows:

2. City Council direct the City Manager to request the advice of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada on whether it is acceptable and consistent with federal privacy legislation for a for-profit corporation to record the faces of individuals on a public street, without their knowledge or consent, or the consent of the City, and to send those images to the United States for collection, use and storage for their own benefit, indefinite storage, analysis and manipulation for its own benefit and report back on the results of this request at the September 26, 2025 meeting of Infrastructure and Environment Committee.

2. City Council amend Infrastructure and Environment Committee Recommendation 3 by:

a. adding the words "privacy legislation" after the words "consistent with Ontario";

b. adding the words "or the consent of the City" after the words "or consent";

c. deleting the words "indefinite storage, analysis and manipulation for its own benefit" and replacing them with the words "collection, use and storage for their own benefit,"

so that it now reads as follows:

3. City Council direct the City Manager to request the advice of the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner on whether it is acceptable and consistent with Ontario privacy legislation for a for-profit corporation to record the faces of individuals on a public street, without their knowledge or consent, or the consent of the City, and to send those images to the United States for collection, use and storage for their own benefit, indefinite storage, analysis and manipulation for its own benefit and report back on the results of this request at the September 26, 2025 meeting of Infrastructure and Environment Committee.

3. City Council delete the following instructions to staff issued by the Infrastructure and Environment Committee at its meeting on June 11, 2025:

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee:

1. Requested the City Manager to report to the September 26, 2025 meeting of the Infrastructure and Environment Committee with answers to the following questions with respect to Automated Vehicle Pilot Deployment in Toronto Under the Highway Traffic Act:

a. What type of data is being collected;

b. Who has access to this data;

c. Where is this data being stored;

d. Can or will this data cross the border into the United States;

e. Can Magna entities within the United States view the data;

f. Would Magna entities be required to provide data to United States or Canadian law enforcement if requested;

g. Will facial recognition data be shared with law enforcement;

h. Can future agreements change the nature of how the data is collected, stored, transmitted, and used;

i. Are there any mechanisms for individuals, including those who cannot provide consent, such as children, to opt-out or request that their records be deleted;

j. Are there ways to ensure that data can be destroyed if no consent was given;

k. Can the terms and conditions of data management be changed, and if so, by whom; and,

l. Does the City’s Digital Infrastructure Strategic Framework govern the collection and use of this data and if not, what can the City do when third parties want to harvest data in the public realm.

4. City Council amend Infrastructure and Environment Committee Recommendation 4 by:

a. adding the words "and to request answers to privacy and data management questions;" after the words "congestion precautions"; and

b. adding the following to the end, after the words "Infrastructure and Environment Committee":

"; specific privacy and data management questions to include:

a. what type of data is being collected;

b. who has access to this data;

c. where is this data being stored, for how long and for what purpose;

d. can or will this data cross the border into the United States and will it be encrypted in transit and at rest;

e. can Magna entities within the United States view the data;

f. would Magna entities be required to provide data to US or Canadian law enforcement if requested;

g. will facial recognition data be shared with law enforcement;

h. can future agreements change the nature of how the data is collected, stored, transmitted, and used; and are there governance controls in place to monitor this;

i. are there any mechanisms for individuals, including those who cannot provide consent, such as children, to opt-out or request that their records be deleted;

j. are there ways to ensure that data can be destroyed if no consent was given; and

k. can the terms and conditions of data management be changed, and if so, by whom."

so that it now reads as follows:

4. City Council direct the City Manager to write to the Premier of Ontario and the Minister of Transportation of Ontario to object to the privacy, safety and congestion risks created by the secret permit their government has granted allowing autonomous vehicles to operate on the streets of Toronto without the consent of the City and without appropriate privacy, safety and congestion precautions; and to request answers to privacy and data management questions; and report back on the results of this request at the September 26, 2025 meeting of Infrastructure and Environment Committee, specific privacy and data management questions to include:

a. what type of data is being collected;

b. who has access to this data;

c. where is this data being stored, for how long and for what purpose;

d. can or will this data cross the border into the United States and will it be encrypted in transit and at rest;

e. can Magna entities within the United States view the data;

f. would Magna entities be required to provide data to US or Canadian law enforcement if requested;

g. will facial recognition data be shared with law enforcement;

h. can future agreements change the nature of how the data is collected, stored, transmitted, and used; and are there governance controls in place to monitor this;

i. are there any mechanisms for individuals, including those who cannot provide consent, such as children, to opt-out or request that their records be deleted;

j. are there ways to ensure that data can be destroyed if no consent was given; and

k. can the terms and conditions of data management be changed, and if so, by whom.

That:

1. City Council direct the City Manager to report to the September 26, 2025 meeting of the Infrastructure and Environment Committee on the City of Toronto’s ability to govern the collection and use of data collected by the Magna Automated Vehicle Pilot.

2:52 p.m. - That the Infrastructure and Environment Committee recessed its public session to meet in closed session to consider the following:

IE22.1 - Automated Vehicle Pilot Deployment in Toronto Under the Highway Traffic Act (Ward 4, 5, 9, 11, 12)

Reason for Confidentiality - as the attachments to the report contain information explicitly supplied in confidence to the City of Toronto, Transportation Services, by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.

That the Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:

1. City Council direct the City Manager to request the advice of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada on whether it is acceptable and consistent with federal privacy legislation for a for-profit corporation to record the faces of individuals on a public street, without their knowledge or consent, and to send those images to the United States for indefinite storage, analysis and manipulation for its own benefit and report back on the results of this request at the September 26, 2025 meeting of Infrastructure and Environment Committee.

2. City Council direct the City Manager to request the advice of the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner on whether it is acceptable and consistent with Ontario for a for-profit corporation to record the faces of individuals on a public street, without their knowledge or consent, and to send those images to the United States for indefinite storage, analysis and manipulation for its own benefit and report back on the results of this request at the September 26, 2025 meeting of Infrastructure and Environment Committee.

3. City Council direct the City Manager to write to the Premier of Ontario and the Minister of Transportation to object to the privacy, safety and congestion risks created by the secret permit their government has granted allowing autonomous vehicles to operate on the streets of Toronto without the consent of the city and without appropriate privacy, safety and congestion precautions and report back on the results of this request at the September 26, 2025 meeting of Infrastructure and Environment Committee.

That the Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:  

1. City Council direct that the confidential information contained in Confidential Attachments 1, 2, 3 and 4 to the supplementary report (May 28, 2025) from the General Manager, Transportation Services, remain confidential in their entirety, as they contain information provided in Confidence by the Province of Ontario.

That the Infrastructure and Environment Committee:

1. Request the City Manager to report to the September 26, 2025 meeting of the Infrastructure and Environment Committee with answers to the following questions with respect to Automated Vehicle Pilot Deployment in Toronto Under the Highway Traffic Act:

a. What type of data is being collected;

b. Who has access to this data;

c. Where is this data being stored;

d. Can or will this data cross the border into the United States;

e. Can Magna entities within the United States view the data;

f. Would Magna entities be required to provide data to US or Canadian law enforcement if requested;

g. Will facial recognition data be shared with law enforcement;

h. Can future agreements change the nature of how the data is collected, stored, transmitted, and used;

i. Are there any mechanisms for individuals, including those who cannot provide consent, such as children, to opt-out or request that their records be deleted;

j. Are there ways to ensure that data can be destroyed if no consent was given;

k. Can the terms and conditions of data management be changed, and if so, by whom; and,

l. Does the City’s Digital Infrastructure Strategic Framework govern the collection and use of this data and if not, what can the City do when third parties want to harvest data in the public realm.

That Infrastructure and Environment Committee:

1. Direct that the General Manager, Transportation Services, in consultation with the City Solicitor, to report directly to the June 25, 26 and 27, 2025 meeting of City Council with information on how a Toronto resident could make a complaint to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada with respect to this matter.