Canada’s privacy commissioner has launched an investigation into the use of facial detection software in certain billboards near Toronto’s Union Station.
The controversy first erupted after a Reddit post on Nov. 2 highlighted the billboards’ use of facial detection technology to track and analyze data of passersby, including their age and gender.
In the post, images of a disclaimer and a billboard of a taco advertisement outside of Union’s bus terminal are shown with a camera highlighted in the top left corner of the photo.
Cineplex Digital Media (CDM), which owns the billboards, said the technology only detects the presence of a person and estimates their age and sex. CDM added in a news release that no images or personal data are stored, and all processing happens within milliseconds.
“Following the receipt of complaints from individuals, Privacy Commissioner of Canada Philippe Dufresne has opened an investigation into privacy concerns related to digital signs installed near Toronto’s Union Station that allegedly use facial detection software,” said Vito Pilieci, senior communications advisor for Dufresne’s office, in a statement to Global News.
Pilieci said the investigation will examine whether the technology is being used in compliance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, Canada’s federal privacy law for private-sector companies.
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He added as it involves an active investigation, the federal Office of the Privacy Commissioner is unable to provide further details.
Ontario’s privacy commissioner said last month that it was examining the situation as a “possible investigation.”
As concerns were being raised, privacy experts in a news release said the technology’s safeguards rely heavily on corporate reassurances.
“The justification for the technology is that no personally identifiable information is being stored,” said Charles Finlay, founding executive director of the Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst at Toronto Metropolitan University.
“We have to trust the private company that that is what is happening and not something else, which is a leap of faith in terms of technology and privacy that many people may frankly not be willing to take.”
Global News has contacted to CDM for comment on the investigation.
Days after the post on Reddit went viral, Cineplex had issued a news release about completing the sale of Cineplex Digital Media to a U.S.-based company called Creative Realities on Nov. 7. It’s not yet clear how the change in ownership could affect oversight or privacy compliance for Canadians recorded by the system.
It’s not the first time, however, that Canadians have raised concerns over biometric data collection.
In 2020, an investigation by federal, Alberta and B.C. privacy commissioners found Cadillac Fairview used facial recognition in mall kiosks to analyze the images of five million shoppers without meaningful consent.
The investigation prompted calls for stricter guidelines and explicit permission before capturing such data.
—with files from Global News’ Prisha Dev
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