On July 6, 2020, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) announced that US-based company, Clearview AI, has advised the OPC that it will cease offering facial recognition services in Canada. This includes the indefinite suspension of Clearview AI’s contract with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), its last Canadian client.
Clearview AI is currently the subject of an ongoing joint investigation by OPC and privacy authorities in Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec, as previously reported by the E-TIPS® Newsletter here. The joint investigation was commenced in the wake of media reports claiming that Clearview AI had used its technology to collect images and make facial recognition available to law enforcement for the purposes of identifying individuals during investigations. Privacy authorities are also actively investigating Clearview AI’s deletion of already-collected personal information of Canadians and its cessation of the collection of Canadians’ personal information.
In addition, the OPC will complete its related investigation into the RCMP’s use of Clearview AI’s facial recognition technology.
The OPC did not provide further details due to the active nature of the investigations.
The OPC’s news release can be found here.
Summary By: Steffi Tran
E-TIPS® ISSUE
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