NDP calls for privacy probe into police use of facial recognition

No clear rules for tech opens up potential for abuse, ethics critic says

OTTAWA— Canadian police agencies’ use of cutting-edge facial recognition technology presents “enormous” potential for abuse, the opposition New Democrats say.

The NDP is calling on federal privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien to launch a probe into how the RCMP and other Canadian law enforcement agencies use the controversial tool, which can allow police to quickly check citizens’ faces against databases of mug shots or social media profiles.

“The power of this technology to radically alter the basic notions of privacy is evident … The potential for abuse is enormous,” NDP ethics critic Charlie Angus wrote in a letter to Therrien that was obtained by the Star.

“Any use of such technology must be carried out under clear judicial oversight. However, this technology is being tested and implemented in a legislative and judicial background.”

Numerous police agencies, including the Toronto Police Service, have facial recognition programs already up and running, but there’s been little public debate about acceptable uses for the powerful technology.

In a report last year, Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders said his force only uses facial recognition technology in criminal investigations, and sharply limits the number of officers with access to the database. Only lawfully obtained mug shots are included in the database, Saunders said.

However, police forces in other jurisdictions are less restrictive in their use of the technology.

The New York Times recently reported on a U.S. company called Clearview AI, which offers facial recognition databases to law enforcement agencies, the contents of which have been scraped from social media profiles and websites. According to the Times, Clearview has a database of more than three billion images scraped from websites including Facebook and YouTube. Police agencies — or anyone else Clearview sells its services to — simply upload a photo of their target to find a match.

According to the company, more than 600 law enforcement agencies have started using it in the past year.

It’s not clear if any Canadian agency has purchased Clearview AI’s services, but Angus said it’s “imperative” Canadians understand more about how this type of technology can be used.

“At this time, the RCMP has refused to state whether or not they are using this technology. If they are, it could represent a real risk to Canadians’ privacy,” Angus wrote to Therrien.

It’s not hard to understand the appeal such technology has for law enforcement, but for all the technology’s potential, studies have also raised questions about its accuracy. Internet freedom advocacy group OpenMedia noted that some facial recognition software has a higher error rate when attempting to identify people of colour and women.

Angus has also asked the federal privacy watchdog to “provide recommendations on the permissibility, limits and scope of the use of facial recognition by law enforcement agencies.”

The privacy commissioner’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.