B.C. Canadian Tire stores broke privacy laws with facial ID technology: report

Canadian Tire stores in B.C. have removed facial recognition security technology after concerns and non-compliances were listed in a report.

The report was done by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for B.C.

The privacy commissioner office investigated four stores over three years, looking into the facial recognition software which was being used for loss prevention and protecting staff and customers, according to the stores.

The facial recognition system (FRT) uses video surveillance that covers almost the entire store, including entrances, exits, checkouts, retail floor and store parking lots.

It uses images and video gathered of customers and compares their faces to a stored database of previously flagged persons of interest.

Persons of interest are individuals that have been reportedly involved in thefts, vandalism, harassment and assault.

The B.C. privacy commissioner’s report outlined issues found with the way the technology was being implemented including concerns that FRT could be wrong at times.

“FRT can get things wrong, incorrectly matching a captured face with a comparative database. That is especially true when it comes to people of colour and minorities,” Michael McEvoy said in the report, Information and Privacy Commissioner for B.C.

“Those false matches can damage reputations, inflict psychological stress, and even lead to wrongful detainment or imprisonment.”

The Canadian Tire stores were obligated to let its customers know of the system and were required to gather consent under the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA).

All four locations did not gather sufficient consent, the report stated, even though they had some signage.

Ultimately, the signage was not good enough to meet the requirements of PIPA, where they had to explain how FRT works and that it was being used at those locations.

“The stores did not meet the notification requirements of PIPA,” the report said.

“The stores did not obtain implicit, or explicit, consent for the collection or use of biometric information via FRT.”

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Twelve Canadian Tire stores were using the technology for about three years but the systems were removed and the information destroyed when the commissioner notified the chain that four stores were under investigation.

McEvoy said highly sensitive biometric information was captured by the systems between 2018 and 2021, and the stores would have had to make a compelling case to show it was reasonable to collect the precise mathematical rendering of each person’s face.

The commissioner said it’s ironic that there are regulations for those who sell and install old closed-circuit television systems, but not for those who deploy the more invasive facial recognition technology.

“I recognize retailers face a challenging environment, however they have to carefully consider the privacy rights of their customers before buying and installing new technologies that gather very sensitive personal information,” McEvoy said.

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— with files from Canadian Press