Law enforcement and privacy concerns in Vancouver
Last month, the police in the otherwise sedate Vancouver had to use tear gas, pepper spray, and flash bombs in downtown Vancouver to try to disperse angry rioters who set cars on fire, looted stores, and taunted police officers after the Canucks’ 4-0 Stanley Cup final loss to the Boston Bruins; the police wants to use facial recognition technology to identify the rioters, but privacy advocates are worried
Last month, the police in the otherwise sedate Vancouver had to use tear gas, pepper spray, and flash bombs in downtown Vancouver to try to disperse angry rioters who set cars on fire, looted stores, and taunted police officers after the Canucks’ 4-0 Stanley Cup final loss to the Boston Bruins.
Now the Insurance Corp. of British Columbia (ICBC) said it would help the police identify the rioters by opening its — the insurance company’s — data facial base to the police.
The insurance company’s offer came after it became known that the police was offered biometrics facial recognition technology from the Crown corporation. The police could use the technology to match pictures and videos of rioters against the facial data base in the archives of ICBS. ICBS has a large database of faces because everyone insured by the company must have driver license and a photo on file with the company.
The province’s Information and Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said last week that she had to look into the matter to see whether the use of such technology complies with Canada’s privacy laws.
“There is a fine balance to be struck in weighing a citizen’s privacy interests and the use of personal information for law enforcement,” Denham said in a press release from her office. “This balancing of interests must be undertaken within the confines of existing law.”
CBC news reports that the privacy law is in place, in part, to prevent “the unauthorized collection, use or disclosure of personal information by public bodies.”
Scott Anderson, an assistant professor at the University of B.C. who specializes in ethics and political philosophy, said people should be wary when their personal information is used in a way they are unaware of or did not consent to.
“Of course it’s in the public’s interest to be able to prosecute people who commit mayhem and violence,” Anderson told CBC, “however … there’s also an interest for people to prevent institutions like the government and ICBC from accessing their life histories and all of their other personal data.”
