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Philadelphia to release privacy guidelines for public Wi-Fi kiosks

November 7, 2017

Philadelphia is working to establish privacy guidelines for the LinkPHL-branded sidewalk kiosks that will be installed on city sidewalks, according to Philadelphia Magazine.

City spokesman Mike Dunn said the city is working with Intersection, the company installing the kiosks, to develop a policy that will describe how the company will collect, use and share user information.

The policy will be released to the public prior to the installation, Dunn said, and will include information on the use of the kiosks' cameras.

When Intersection launched kiosks in New York City, some citizens and hackers, as well as a Village Voice reporter and the New York Civil Liberties Union, raised concern about the fact that Google was connected to a vast network of data-collecting hubs in New York City. 

Philadelphia hacker Ed Cummings said the kiosks have the potential to be "Orwellian." While Intersection updated LinkNYC's privacy policy after public concerns were raised, Cummings said Google made a fortune collecting information from the people that use their search engines.