Biometrics

The National Security and Intelligence Review Agency is reviewing internal security programs at the Communication Security Establishment, the foreign signals intelligence agency. Among other things, NSIRA is looking into whether the use of polygraph tests in CSE recruitment "is lawful, reasonable and necessary. The Supreme Court of Canada has rejected the use of polygraph results as evidence in court due to concerns of accuracy. [node:read-more:link]

A parliamentary committee’s attempts to learn more about the RCMP’s use of facial recognition were so unproductive May 9 that Conservative MP James Bezan called officials’ testimony “evasive.” The committee’s hearings are in response to a warning last year that the Clearview AI software violated Canadian privacy laws but Bezan said the officials’ “one-word answers and being dodgy is not fulfilling our work.” [node:read-more:link]

Government privacy watchdogs in B.C., Alberta and Quebec have ordered New York-based Clearview AI to stop collecting, using or disclosing images of people without their consent and to delete images and biometric data already collected. This follows their finding last February that the company’s technology had violated provincial and federal laws with its mass surveillance of Canadians. While Clearview has not serviced law enforcement or other clients in Canada since mid-2020, suggestions it could return to the market have prompted the three provinces to tell the company Dec. [node:read-more:link]

Canada's border agency is urgently looking to hire a global technology firm to help develop a biometric strategy in response to rapidly evolving issues including COVID-19. The chosen contractor would help CBSA develop a plan to "manage, evolve and adapt" the use of biometrics to address issues flowing from the pandemic and other priorities. [node:read-more:link]

The burgeoning biometrics sector is being invited by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security showcase their capabilities to government and industry, mainly to contribute to DHS-led research aimed at enhancing verification. “We have seen tremendous innovation from the biometrics industry to adapt to new challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic,” a DHS official says. “It’s time to see if further innovation and improvement can be achieved to further reduce errors and provide more consistent and equitable performance.” [node:read-more:link]

Federal Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien and three provincial ombudsmen will investigate Canadian use of facial-recognition technology supplied by New York-based Clearview AI. Their probe is in response to reports that the company collects and uses personal data without consent, a potential breach of Canadian privacy laws. [node:read-more:link]

Having initially denied that it was using facial recognition technology, the RCMP recently confirmed that it had been using it for some time. The program evidently has accumulated large amounts of personal images from social media and in confirming that it has been using the technology, the RCMP said “some municipal police” also use it. [node:read-more:link]

The Department of Homeland Security is planning another “biometric technology rally” with a view to having developers collectively test and accelerate emerging automated biometrics. Two earlier events tested tools individually but this year’s evidently will focus on identifying collaborative groups which would lead the DHS efforts. [node:read-more:link]

A U.S. technology company’s collection of images of Canadians without their knowledge has prompted a number of Canadian privacy commissioners to recommend stricter federal and provincial privacy laws. New York-based Clearview AI continues to defend its activities but the company also is being investigated by Australian and British authorities. [node:read-more:link]

Some “unacceptable” uses of artificial intelligence would be banned in Europe under proposed rules announced today by the European Commission's rules. The draft ban would target “AI systems considered a clear threat to the safety, livelihoods and rights of people,” said the EC, which also has proposed stricter rules on law enforcement’s use of biometrics. [node:read-more:link]

Draft bipartisan legislation which would require law enforcement to have a warrant to use facial recognition technology to track U.S. citizens has been introduced in Congress by Delaware Democrat Chris Coons and Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee. The growing use of facial recognition has raised concerns about individual privacy and civil liberties. [node:read-more:link]

As the Transportation Security Agency ramps up the use of facial recognition technology at U.S. airports, one Democrat in Congress says he’d like a more measured approach. Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey has suggested to a Senate subcommittee that current TSA data protections are inadequate and a threat to civil liberties. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. intelligence community is said to be developing biometric identification systems which could single out individuals at a distance. Facial recognition and other biometrics technologies have improved in recent years but evidently are still prone to errors. [node:read-more:link]

A new Pew Research Centre study indicates that although Americans are becoming more receptive to biometric scans and facial recognition technologies, their growing acceptance is so far limited to law enforcement’s use. They apparently are less trusting of the private sector. [node:read-more:link]

Google Inc. has agreed to a $170-million fine and to make changes to its YouTube video service to protect children’s privacy. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the Attorney General of New York said the company had illegally harvested and used personal information to target children with advertising. [node:read-more:link]