OPC joins counterparts in calling for safeguards on facial recognition and AI

The federal privacy watchdog has joined its counterparts from 12 other countries in calling for "stronger privacy protections and greater accountability" when it comes to the development and use of facial recognition and artificial intelligence (AI). The resolution, adopted earlier this month at a closed session of the Global Privacy Assembly and released by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner Wednesday, acknowledges the growing use of facial recognition technologies, but reiterates the importance of building privacy safeguards into their use. The Global Privacy Assembly is concerned, the resolution reads, "that the widespread use of facial recognition can entail discriminatory effects and impact the ability to exercise certain other fundamental rights such as the freedom of expression and association." In a Wednesday release, the OPC said that the "resolutions serve to highlight the importance of legal frameworks that allow technologies to produce benefits in the public interest while also preserving the fundamental right to privacy." The resolution on facial recognition technology was sponsored by information commissioners from the United Kingdom and Australia, and co-sponsored by Canada's OPC along with counterparts from Argentina, Albania, the Philippines, Japan, Switzerland, Mexico, New Zealand, France, and Burkina Faso. The OPC also co-sponsored a resolution calling on "governments, public authorities and other stakeholders to work with data protection authorities to ensure legal compliance, accountability and ethics in the development and use of AI systems," according to the OPC release. In presenting his annual report earlier this month, privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien said he has become "frustrated for Canadian citizens" by the lack of movement in updating a Canadian privacy law he has repeatedly said is out of date. In July, 31 different civil society organizations signed an open letter to Public Safety Minister Bill Blair calling for a ban on the use of facial recognition technologies by Canadian law enforcement and intelligence agencies. A September report by the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs declared that the rise of what it called "algorithmic policing" was a threat to basic civil liberties. Meanwhile, the House ethics committee had been due to launch a review of the use of facial recognition technology, but the review was delayed by the prorogation of parliament in August. In March, the NDP called for a moratorium on facial recognition technology in the wake of a pair of OPC investigations into the use of the technology by the RCMP. Clearview AI subsequently pulled the technology from the Canadian market.

OPC joins counterparts in calling for safeguards on facial recognition and AI

Brief | October 28, 2020

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OPC joins counterparts in calling for safeguards on facial recognition and AI

Brief | October 28, 2020

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