Police use of Facial Recognition Technology in Canada and the way forward
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada investigated the RCMP's collection of personal information from Clearview AI, a company that scraped billions of images from the internet for facial recognition. The OPC found that the RCMP contravened the Privacy Act by collecting this information, as Clearview had collected it unlawfully. While the RCMP disagreed with this finding, it agreed to implement the OPC's recommendations to improve its policies and systems for tracking and assessing novel collections of personal information.
- Whether the RCMP's collection of personal information from Clearview AI related directly to an operating program or activity of the institution.
- Whether the RCMP had adequate controls in place to prevent future contraventions of the Privacy Act.
- The lawfulness of Clearview AI's data collection practices.
- The adequacy of the RCMP's assessment of privacy risks associated with new technologies.
Complaint well-founded, conditionally resolved.
The OPC found that the RCMP contravened Section 4 of the Privacy Act because Clearview AI's collection of personal information was unlawful, and therefore the RCMP's subsequent collection of this unlawfully gathered information could not be considered part of a legitimate operating program or activity. The RCMP agreed to implement recommendations to improve its controls and assessments.
AI-generated summary for reference only. Always verify against the official decision ↗
The RCMP agreed to implement recommendations to institute systemic measures and training to understand, track, identify, assess, and control the novel collection of personal information, including conducting fulsome privacy assessments of third-party data collection practices.
- s. 4 Privacy Act
- s. 8 Privacy Act
- s. 6(2) Privacy Act
This summary is informational only and not legal advice.