TfD Weekly - 7th May 2026
Jane's Walk recap, Waymo open letter update, age-gating debate, and this week's Civic Tech Toronto talk on Toronto's 311 services.
Welcome to TfD Weekly
TfD Weekly is the newsletter of Technologists for Democracy (TfD), a Toronto-based civic tech organisation working at the intersection of technology, privacy, and democratic accountability. Each week we recap what's happening at Civic Tech Toronto, share updates on our campaigns, and keep an eye on legislation that affects Canadians' digital rights.
Our active campaigns:
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This Week at Civic Tech Toronto
This week, Civic Tech Toronto welcomed Raviteja Katipally, a logistics professional and AI enthusiast, for a talk on 311 service issues in Toronto. 311 is the City of Toronto's non-emergency helpline for reporting issues like potholes, graffiti, and bylaw concerns. Using open data, Raviteja explored the scope of these calls, showcasing how requests are tracked and resolved across the city.
It was an insightful presentation that showed the scale of operation behind Toronto's public services. Raviteja vibe-coded his entire dashboard, and has indicated to the Civic Tech TO team that he's willing to share the files with those who are interested. Keep an eye out on the Civic Tech channels for when this is available.
Civic Tech Toronto meets every Tuesday. Subscribe for future events
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Jane's Walk: The Surveillance Stroll
This year's Jane's Walk brought out more attendees than we ever expected. It was a fantastic turnout that speaks to how much this topic resonates. The walk took participants through the Path, using the space to highlight real-world examples of surveillance in action, including facial detection billboards like those at the centre of our ongoing Cineplex campaign. For many attendees it was a genuinely eye-opening experience.
A big thank you to the TfD team members and friends who came out to help make it happen.
Waymo
We are in the process of refining our open letter on Waymo's arrival in Canada. Thank you to everyone who has shared their thoughts so far. If you haven't yet had a chance to weigh in, we'd love to hear from you. Just reply to this email.
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Monthly Volunteer Meeting
Our monthly volunteer meeting takes place on Wednesday, May 13th. All newsletter subscribers are welcome to join in, come say hi and get to know the other people at TfD. RSVP here
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Social Media Age-Gating: What Do You Think?
The federal Liberal government has adopted a motion to ban children under 16 from social media. Fellow Canadian tech writer Technically Good has published a sharp critique of age-gating policies, arguing that rather than protecting young people, these measures amount to a surveillance grab that puts sensitive data including biometrics in the hands of tech companies that have already proven they cannot be trusted with it. The piece also raises digital sovereignty concerns, given that most age verification providers are American companies.
Many of us at TfD share these concerns. We'd love to hear from our community, what do you think about age-gating on social media? Is it the right approach to protecting young people online? Do you have any ideas about how we can actually make the internet a safer place for people of all ages, but especially children?
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Canadians who work with technology towards better democracy for all