“Say no to Waymo” session held

Technologists for Democracy (TfD) hosted an online session to discuss Waymo’s efforts to run an autonamous vehicle pilot in Toronto. The group was founded in June 2025 in response to Magna International’s self-driving delivery vehicle pilot, and is currently monitoring topics including algorithmic pricing and facial recognition technologies.

About 20 individuals attended the August 25th session which included a presentation by Uber driver Earla Phillips of the Rideshare Drivers Association of Ontario and remote annotator Camila Justino. Taxi News was invited and attended the session.

Waymo is an autonomous vehicle company founded by Google and owned by its parent company, Alphabet Inc. They are currently  lobbying politicians to deploy their autonomous vehicles across Ontario, including as commercial and delivery vehicles.

“We believe this is a problem,” TfD notes on its website, which hosts a petition visitors can sign asking Ontario Premier Doug Ford to “Say no to Waymo.”

The petition lists the following concerns:

1. “Digital sovereignty and privacy is at stake. As US law enforcement and tech companies share data, we are concerned that this could put Canadians’ data at risk.
2. Ontarians’ jobs risk being outsourced to software engineers in California, data labellers and support staff in countries where they are paid low wages. We are concerned that local Uber, Lyft and taxi drivers risk losing their jobs as Waymo outcompetes them.
3. Public transit could lose riders as people with more discretionary income will spend it on Waymo and ridesharing apps in general, instead of taking the subway.
4. Congestion may worsen as Waymo adds more cars to the roads, with reports indicating that Waymo cars drive significant distances without any passenger.
5. Ontarians are not getting their voices heard! From reports of zooming past school buses in Austin, Texas, to shutdown of services during blackouts and heavy rainfall, Ontarians deserve a fair assessment of driverless taxis.”

Technologists for Democracy describes itself as “a diverse group of Canadians who aim to keep tech companies and government agencies accountable to the public. As volunteers, we are composed primarily, but not exclusively, of technologists. We’re based in Toronto but come from all over.”

TfD was founded in June 2025 in response to Magna International’s self-driving delivery vehicle pilot in Toronto, which involved collecting recordings of pedestrians’ faces.

TfD’s mission and goals are listed as:

1.  “Act as a watchdog over private organizations and public agencies to ensure that technology is being used and deployed in a responsible, ethical and equitable manner.
2.  Provide technical expertise for public education on tech policy issues.
3.  Nudge tech culture towards one of creating for public good, rather than the prevailing focuses on novelty and exploitation for capital.
4.  Fix regulation and policy to protect and strengthen democracy.

Our external values help us decide whether to publicly take a stance on an issue or take action:

•  Accountability: We aim to hold government agencies and private organizations accountable for responsible use of tech.
•  Democracy: The interplay between technology and democracy is pervasive and unavoidable. We believe that the power of tech should be used to serve the many, and not be concentrated in the hands of the few.
• Equity: We believe in tech enabling disadvantaged folks rather than acting as another way to enforce power.
•  Privacy: We believe in the right to privacy both online and offline. Privacy is a fundamental human right that is essential for a healthy democracy.
•  Progress: We believe in progress not defined by novelty, but flourishing for all.”