EPIC Urges Canadian Privacy Commissioner to Ban Facial Recognition
In comments on the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, EPIC urged the Commissioner to ban police use of facial recognition. EPIC’s comments respond to the Commissioner’s recently published Draft Guidance on Facial Recognition for Police Agencies. The Draft Guidance is a set of non-binding recommendations that would govern how police agencies in Canada use facial recognition technology. EPIC’s comments argue that police cannot be trusted with facial recognition, that the Draft Guidance would not prevent abuses of the technology, and that the only privacy-protective approach to facial recognition is a complete ban. EPIC has joined a number of coalitions urging a ban on facial recognition including: an international letter opposing the technology, a statement of concerns on police use of FR, and EPIC’s Ban Face Surveillance campaign.