clearview ai investigation

Shortly after the investigation began, Clearview agreed to stop providing its services in the Canadian market. In any event, Clearview AI only collects public information from the Internet which is explicitly permitted under PIPEDA," Mitchell wrote in a statement, issued minutes after the report was made public. To encourage thoughtful and respectful conversations, first and last names will appear with each submission to CBC/Radio-Canada's online communities (except in children and youth-oriented communities). The investigation also revealed that Clearview had 48 contracts with law enforcement agencies around the country, including Canada’s state policy agency, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Accredited journalists may call to join the news conference. For that number, please email communications@priv.gc.ca in advance of the news conference. (This line is available to media only. Format: Conference call with journalists. The privacy authorities recommended that Clearview stop offering its facial recognition services to Canadian clients; stop collecting images of individuals in Canada; and delete all previously collected images and biometric facial arrays of individuals in Canada. However, the four acknowledged that under current laws, and even under proposed changes to federal privacy laws, their ability to penalize the company or force it to comply with Canadian orders is limited. "There is no reason to apply a different standard here.". February 3, 2021 – Technology company Clearview AI’s scraping of billions of images of people from across the Internet represented mass surveillance and was a clear violation of the privacy rights of Canadians, an investigation has found. The joint investigation by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, the Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta, concluded that the New-York-based technology company violated federal and provincial privacy laws. New York-based Clearview AI’s practice of vacuuming up millions of images of Canadians and offering facial recognition services for customers constituted illegal “mass surveillance,” according to a probe by four privacy commissioners.. Clearview AI's CEO, Hoan Ton-That, said the company would be cooperating with the investigation, and he defended the company's practices. Specifically, the regulatory bodies are concerned with Clearview’s practice of using “scraped” data and biometrics. The Clearview investigation shows that across Canada we need to be discussing acceptable uses and regulation of facial recognition. Get updates about the OPC’s announcements and activities, as well as the events in which we participate. Clearview AI Misconduct. The investigation found that Clearview had collected highly sensitive biometric information without the knowledge or consent of individuals. Clearview cannot be held responsible for offering services to law enforcement or any other entity that subsequently makes an error in its assessment of the person being investigated. Yet the company continues to claim its purposes were appropriate, citing the requirement under federal privacy law that its business needs be balanced against privacy rights. Brief statements followed by Q and A. If the company refuses to follow the recommendations, the four privacy commissioners will "pursue other actions available under their respective acts to bring Clearview into compliance with Canadian laws," the statement said. Award-winning reporter Elizabeth Thompson covers Parliament Hill. British Columbia privacy commissioner Michael McEvoy said he was struck by the "vast amount" of information that was collected without consent. Just like other research systems, Clearview AI results legally require follow-up investigation and confirmation. Doug Mitchell, lawyer for Clearview AI, said the company simply collects public data in the same way as companies like Google. Clearview AI is an American technology company that provides facial recognition software, which is used by private companies, law enforcement agencies, universities and individuals.  These potential harms include the risk of misidentification and exposure to potential data breaches. While the company is no longer allowing its technology to be used in Canada. The company soon changed its name to Clearview AI and began marketing to law enforcement. The investigation also noted the potential risks to individuals whose images were captured and included in Clearview’s biometric database. In a separate investigation, the federal privacy commissioner's office is probing the way the RCMP used Clearview AI's technology. "Clearview AI's rejection of the Privacy Commissioner's findings and its disregard for Canadian privacy laws raises serious concerns and deserves further scrutiny by parliamentarians. Furthermore, Clearview collected, used and disclosed Canadians’ personal information for inappropriate purposes, which cannot be rendered appropriate via consent. Clearview wound down operations in Canada after the investigation began and cut ties with the RCMP, the only remaining client, in July 2020. The case raises the thorny issue of the use of facial recognition technology by police and shines a light on the lack of rules and regulations surrounding it in Canada. Australia and the UK have opened a joint investigation into Clearview AI. A joint investigation by the privacy commissioners of Canada, Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec found that the American tech company Clearview AI Inc. has collected, used and disseminated Canadian’s personal information without consent. It stopped offering trial accounts to Canadian organizations and discontinued services to its only remaining Canadian subscriber, the RCMP in July 2020. The goal of Clearview AI’s App was to allow clients to upload a digital image of an individual’s face and run a search against it, and then the App applied its algorithm to the digital image and ran the result against Clearview AI’s database to identify and display likely … Canadian privacy commissioners have found that American technology company Clearview AI violated Canadian law when it collected images of people without their knowledge or consent. “Our investigation reveals the vast amount of personal information collected without people’s knowledge or consent.  It is unacceptable and deeply troubling that a company would create a giant database of our biometric data and sell it for profit without recognizing its invasive nature. UK Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham's office confirmed Wednesday that their office is still investigating Clearview AI in conjunction with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. "It 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. Clearview AI and the RCMP. A number of Canadian law enforcement agencies, including the RCMP, Toronto and Calgary police, had been using the advanced technology to help identify perpetrators and victims of crimes.