York, Peel police now using facial recognition technology
CBC
Two Toronto-area police services say they have begun using facial recognition technology as part of their investigations, but some advocates warn the tool comes with real risks to civil liberties.
The York Regional Police Service and Peel Regional Police Service announced the use of the technology in separate news releases Monday afternoon. Both say the move follows consultations with the province's information and privacy commissioner.
Peel police say the technology will automate parts of the force's current image comparison process.
"The new system will scan and compare against lawfully-collected digital evidence currently stored in our databases," said Peel police Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich in a statement.
"This new technology will not only support our criminal investigations greatly, but it will enable us to run mugshot searches faster with less human error, increasing safety in Peel Region."
Peel police said the images in the organization's existing mugshot database have been stored in accordance with the Identification of Criminals Act, and the technology will not be used to scan or compare against footage like live video from other sources.
In its own news release, York police also said images will not be gathered from social media or CCTV footage as part of the program.
"As we're all too aware, criminals don't limit their activity to a single jurisdiction," York police Chief Jim MacSween said in a statement. "Partnering with Peel Regional Police is cost effective and enables us to collaborate more extensively to make both communities safer."
Wendy H. Wong, a University of B.C. Okanagan professor who has researched emerging technologies, said on Monday she is surprised that two police services are using facial recognition.
Wong said the use of technologies is not always as intended, which has real consequences for people, and they are often used against marginalized people.
Policing is most often present in marginalized communities and that is where the data is going to be coming from, she said. There is the potential for human error and police forces have their own biases, she added.
Anaïs Bussières McNicoll, director of the fundamental freedoms program and interim director of the privacy, technology and surveillance drogram of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), said the group's general position is that the use of facial recognition threatens individuals' privacy rights and their right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.
She said there is no legislation in Canada that directly addresses the serious risks and challenges caused by adoption and deployment of facial recognition technology.
"Until there are clear and transparent policies and laws regulating the use of facial recognition technology in Canada, it should not be used by law enforcement agencies," she said.
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