Watch: Why Canadian Police Should Not Be Allowed to Use Facial Recognition

Facial recognition surveillance is invasive and inaccurate. This unregulated technology poses a threat to the fundamental rights of people across Canada.

Federal intelligence agencies refuse to disclose whether they use facial recognition technology.

The RCMP has admitted (after lying about it) to using facial recognition for 18 years without regulation, let alone a public debate regarding whether it should have been allowed in the first place.

Across Canada, only one government – the City of Montreal – has debated and put in place any form of regulation on the use of facial recognition by law enforcement.

Send a message to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Public Safety Minister Bill Blair calling for a ban now.

 

Sources in the video

Intro

Greene, J., “Microsoft won’t sell police its facial-recognition technology, following similar moves by Amazon and IBM”, The Washington Post, 11 June 2020. Available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/06/11/microsoft-facial-recognition

Electronic Frontier Foundation, “Face Recognition”, 24 October 2017. Available at: https://www.eff.org/pages/face-recognition

Pollard, M., “Even mask-wearers can be ID’d, China facial recognition firm says”, Reuters, 9 March 2020. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-facial-recognition/even-mask-wearers-can-be-idd-china-facial-recognition-firm-says-idUSKBN20W0WL

Carney, B., “Despite Denials, RCMP Used Facial Recognition Program for 18 Years”, The Tyee, 10 March 2020. Available at: https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/03/10/RCMP-Admits-To-Using-Clearview-AI-Technology/

Tunney, C. “RCMP denied using facial recognition technology – then said it had been using it for months”, CBC News, 4 March 2020. Available at https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/clearview-ai-rcmp-facial-recognition-1.5482266

Munn, N. “Police Forces in Canada Are Quietly Adopting Facial Recognition Tech”, Vice, 23 June 2020. Available at: https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/xg8wp4/police-forces-in-canada-are-quietly-adopting-facial-recognition-tech

Reason 1

CCLA, “Deputation on Facial Recognition Technology used by Toronto”, 30 May 2019. Available at: http://ccla.org/cclanewsite/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/toronto-police-board-deputation.pdf

Hill, K. “The Secretive Company That Might End Privacy as We Know It,” The New York Times, 18 January 2020. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/18/technology/clearview-privacy-facial-recognition.html

O’Brien, L. “The Far-Right Helped Create The World’s Most Powerful Facial Recognition Technology”, The Huffington Post, 7 April 2020. Available at: https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/clearview-ai-facial-recognition-alt-right_n_5e7d028bc5b6cb08a92a5c48?ri18n=true

Reason 2

Singer, N. & C. Metz, “Many Facial-Recognition Systems Are Biased, Says U.S. Study”, The New York Times, 19 December 2019. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/19/technology/facial-recognition-bias.html

Snow, J. “Amazon’s Face Recognition Falsely Matched 28 Members of Congress With Mugshots,” ACLU, 28 juillet 2018. Available at: https://www.aclunc.org/blog/amazon-s-face-recognition-falsely-matched-28-members-congress-mugshots

Press association. “Welsh police wrongly identify thousands as potential criminals”, The Guardian, 5 May 2018. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/05/welsh-police-wrongly-identify-thousands-as-potential-criminals

Koebler, J. “Detroit Police Chief: Facial Recognition Software Misidentifies 96% of the Time”, Vice, 29 June 2020, Available at: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/dyzykz/detroit-police-chief-facial-recognition-software-misidentifies-96-of-the-time

Allyn, B. “’The Computer Got It Wrong’: How Facial Recognition Led To False Arrest Of Black Man”, NPR, 24 June 2020. Available at: https://www.npr.org/2020/06/24/882683463/the-computer-got-it-wrong-how-facial-recognition-led-to-a-false-arrest-in-michig

“Stop Facial Recognition in Canada”, OpenMedia, accessed on 13 March 2020. Available at: https://act.openmedia.org/StopFacialRecognition

Reason 3

Carney, B., “Despite Denials, RCMP Used Facial Recognition Program for 18 Years”, The Tyee, 10 March 2020. Available at: https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/03/10/RCMP-Admits-To-Using-Clearview-AI-Technology/

C. Freeze & T. Cardoso, “Privacy watchdogs launch joint investigation into Clearview AI’s facial-recognition technology”, Globe & Mail, 21 February 2020. Available at: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-privacy-commissioners-launch-joint-investigation-into-clearview-ai/

Allen, K., W. Gillis & A. Boutilier, “Facial recognition app Clearview AI has been used far more widely in Canada than previously known”, The Toronto Star, 27 February 2020. Available at: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2020/02/27/facial-recognition-app-clearview-ai-has-been-used-far-more-widely-in-canada-than-previously-known.html

CCLA, “Deputation on Facial Recognition System”, CCLA, 30 May 2019. Available at: https://ccla.org/cclanewsite/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/toronto-police-board-deputation.pdf

Kevin Dougherty, “Quebec lawmakers raise the alarm over police use of facial recognition”, iPolitics, 22 September 2020. Available at: https://ipolitics.ca/2020/09/22/quebec-lawmakers-raise-the-alarm-over-police-use-of-facial-recognition/

Reason 4

Alba, D. “The US Government Will Be Scanning Your Face At 20 Top Airports, Documents Show”, Buzzfeed, 11 March 2019. Available at: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/daveyalba/these-documents-reveal-the-governments-detailed-plan-for

Smith, A. “Football fans demand end to facial recognition cameras being used at matches”, Metro, 7 August 2018. Available at: https://metro.co.uk/2018/08/07/football-fans-demand-end-to-facial-recognition-cameras-being-used-at-matches-7808677/

Bowcott, Owen. “Police face legal action over use of facial recognition cameras”, The Guardian, 14 June 2018. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jun/14/police-face-legal-action-over-use-of-facial-recognition-cameras

BBC Click. “Are you ready for a world of facial recognition? Several UK police forces have been trialling the technology”, Twitter, 13 May 2019. Available at https://twitter.com/BBCClick/status/1127961872286789634

Sample, I. “What is facial recognition – and how sinister is it?”, The Guardian, 29 July 2019. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jul/29/what-is-facial-recognition-and-how-sinister-is-it

Byler, D., “China’s hi-tech war on its Muslim minority”, The Guardian, 11 April 2019. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/apr/11/china-hi-tech-war-on-muslim-minority-xinjiang-uighurs-surveillance-face-recognition

Waddell, K. “Half of American Adults Are in Police Facial-Recognition Databases”, The Atlantic, 19 October 2016. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/10/half-of-american-adults-are-in-police-facial-recognition-databases/504560/

Putting the brakes on facial recognition

Bailey Jr., E. “Portland considering strictest ban on facial recognition technology in the U.S.”, Oregon Live, 21 February 2020. Available at: https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/02/portland-considering-strictest-ban-on-facial-recognition-technology-in-the-us.html

Quach , K. “Washington state governor green-lights facial-recog law championed by… guess who: Yep, hometown hero Microsoft,” The Register, 6 April 2020. Available at: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/04/06/ai_roundup/

Wyrich, A. “Senators introduce facial recognition bill proposing moratorium on government use”, Daily Dot, 13 February 2020, https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/facial-recognition-moratorium-bill-merkley-booker/

Fung, B. “Democratic lawmakers propose nationwide facial recognition ban”, CNN, 25 June 2020. Available at: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/25/tech/facial-recognition-legislation-markey/index.html

Cox, K. “Vermont sues Clearview, alleging “oppressive, unscrupulous” practices”, Ars Tecnica, 3 March 2020. Available at: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/03/vermont-sues-clearview-alleging-oppressive-unscrupulous-practices/

Dan Sabbagh, “South Wales police lose landmark facial recognition case“, The Guardian, 11 August 2020. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/aug/11/south-wales-police-lose-landmark-facial-recognition-case

“Declaration: A Moratorium on Facial Recognition Technology for Mass Surveillance”, The Public Voice, October 2019. Available at: https://thepublicvoice.org/ban-facial-recognition/

“Stop Facial Recognition in Canada”, OpenMedia, accessed on 13 March 2020. Available at: https://act.openmedia.org/StopFacialRecognition

“Ban Police Use of Facial Recognition in Canada”, OpenMedia, accessed on 8 July 2020. Available at: https://action.openmedia.org/page/63295/petition/1

ACLU. “We Need a Face Surveillance Moratorium, Not Weak Regulations: Concerns about SB 6280” 31 March 2020. Available at: https://www.aclu-wa.org/story/we-need-face-surveillance-moratorium-not-weak-regulations-concerns-about-sb-6280

“OPC launches investigation into RCMP’s use of facial recognition technology”, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, 28 February 2020. Available at: www.priv.gc.ca/en/opc-news/news-and-announcements/2020/an_200228/

“Commissioners launch joint investigation into Clearview AI amid growing concerns over use of facial recognition technology”, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, 21 February 2020. Available at: https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/opc-news/news-and-announcements/2020/an_200221/

“Minutes of Proceedings: 24 February 2020”, Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics (ETHI), accessed on: 13 March 2020. Available at: https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/43-1/ETHI/meeting-2/minutes

The Canadian Press, “Clearview AI to end facial-recognition services in Canada: privacy commissioner”, The Canadian Press, 6 July 2020. Available at: https://www.nsnews.com/clearview-ai-to-end-facial-recognition-services-in-canada-privacy-commissioner-1.24165722

Munn, N. “Police Forces in Canada Are Quietly Adopting Facial Recognition Tech”, Vice, 23 June 2020. Available at: https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/xg8wp4/police-forces-in-canada-are-quietly-adopting-facial-recognition-tech