Image scraping facial recognition technology used in Alberta deemed illegal: report

File photo.

EDMONTON — A controversial tool that has collected and scanned the faces of billions of people on the internet is equivalent to mass surveillance and violates the privacy rights of Canadians, an investigation has found.

The joint look into U.S.-based company Clearview AI was launched last year amid media reports its facial recognition technology was being used by law enforcement agencies, including RCMP, raising questions about whether it violated federal and provincial privacy laws.

The findings were published Wednesday morning.

“(Clearview AI’s technology) is an affront to individuals’ privacy rights and inflicts broad-based harm on all members of society who find themselves continually in a police lineup,” said Daniel Therrien, Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

“I find it unacceptable, and to be frank, deeply troubling, that a company would create a giant database of our biometric data and sell it for profit without regard to recognize or acknowledging how invasive it really is,” said British Columbia’s privacy commissioner, Michael McEvoy.

Clearview AI’s facial recognition tool collects or "scrapes" images of faces from the internet and creates "biometric identifiers" for each one. Users can then upload their own images, which are also given biometric identifiers, and match them against the photos in the Clearview database.

Therrien said they could not determine how many images of Canadians have been collected by Clearview, but that the number is estimated to be in the millions — and includes children.

“Indeed, the company doesn’t necessarily know because they’re collecting so much information and images. They don’t know whether these images relate to Canadians, Americans or people from other nationalities,” said Therrien.

Presented with the findings, the report said Clearview argued privacy laws do not apply to its activities because the company does not have a “real and substantial connection” to Canada.

“The company essentially claimed that individuals who placed or permit their images to be placed on the internet, lacked a reasonable expectation of privacy in such image,” said Therrien.

The report said Clearview advised that its app is only intended for use by law enforcement agencies, but later added its service could also be used by “security professionals”.

Clearview ended its service in Canada in July, prompting the indefinite suspension of its contract with RCMP, the company’s only remaining Canadian contract.

Last February, the Edmonton Police Service announced three special unit investigators signed up for and used Clearview AI’s software in December 2019, by their own accord. All EPS officers were subsequently directed not to use the technology again.

Later Wednesday, EPS told CTV News it reviewed the report and said the technology could work — if done right.

"We believe facial recognition technology can be a very valuable investigative tool for police agencies, as long as the proper safeguards, considerations and policies have been implemented responsibly," EPS said in a statement. "We look forward to reviewing all recommendations from Alberta’s Information and Privacy Commissioner as we move toward implementing a reputable and responsible facial recognition solution."

Still, that admission from EPS prompted an initial investigation into Clearview AI from Alberta’s privacy commissioner, who said Wednesday that the joint findings show Alberta must take a deeper look at acceptable uses and regulation of facial recognition.

“In my view, Alberta’s legislature should be reviewing and assessing the use of this technology,” said Jill Clayton.

Clearview argued its technology was not subject to provincial privacy laws because it did not actually operate in the provinces, rather in the U.S., according to the report.

CLEARVIEW AI USAGE HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR STRONGER PRIVACY LAW: REPORT

The report also concluded that Canada’s federal and provincial privacy laws lack the requisite teeth to regulate facial recognition technology.

Commissioners said, despite being found to have been operating illegally, there is no way to administer financial sanctions or fine Clearview AI for operating in Canada.

In this case, privacy commissioners can only make recommendations to Clearview.

“It’s clear we need stronger enforcement measures that companies realize it’s going to be cheaper to invest in the security of their clients up front, rather than face the consequences if they don’t,” said McEvoy.

The report recommends Clearview cease services and collection of images in Canada and delete already collected images of Canadians.

“As of the time of writing this report, Clearview had not committed to following our recommendations,” the report reads.

CTV News Edmonton contacted Clearview AI for comment but had not yet received a response at the time of this publishing.

The full investigation report into Clearview AI can be found here.