FB pixel

Canadian shopping mall operator disables biometrics after data protection regulator report

 

facial-recognition-database

Shopping mall operator Cadillac Fairview used digital information kiosks at 12 malls across Canada to surreptitiously collect and use facial recognition on images of 5 million people without their consent, the country’s data regulator has declared.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, joined by data protection regulators in multiple provinces, made the announcement following an investigation into the Toronto-based company spurred by media reports.

The OPC found that biometrics were used to gather personal information, such as age and gender, and that while the images themselves were deleted, sensitive biometric data (templates) generated from them was stored in a third party’s centralized database. Further, Cadillac Fairview claimed ignorance of the database, which the regulators say compounds the risk of potential misuse by unauthorized entities, or malicious actors in the case of a data breach.

The joint investigation found that while Cadillac Fairview denied it had used the technology to identify individuals, and had referred shoppers to its privacy policy with stickers at mall entrances, the standard for meaningful consent had not been reached. The report also noted that video and audio data were captured and stored as part of a trial.

“Shoppers had no reason to expect their image was being collected by an inconspicuous camera, or that it would be used, with facial recognition technology, for analysis,” says Privacy Commissioner of Canada Daniel Therrien. “The lack of meaningful consent was particularly concerning given the sensitivity of biometric data, which is a unique and permanent characteristic of our body and a key to our identity.”

Cadillac Fairview has disabled the cameras in the displays, and has no plans to relaunch the technology, according to the announcement, but the company did not commit to ensuring express meaningful consent is obtained should it do so in the future, prompting concern from the Commissioners.

Article Topics

 |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 

Latest Biometrics News

 

Understanding of what #SafeDPI is, how to achieve it creeps forward

If a government spends millions of dollars on an identity system or any other kind of digital public infrastructure that…

 

Financial firms beef up fraud prevention with biometrics and FIDO standards

Globally, financial companies are moving to strengthen their digital security and identity protocols, leveraging biometrics, FIDO standards and cryptography to…

 

Building trust in the age of digital identity: why cyber resilience must come first

By Nathalie Gosset, VP Identity and Biometric Solutions at Thales Trust is the invisible infrastructure of the digital world. Without…

 

Biometric ticketing, IDV sweeps across Brazilian stadiums under mandate

Brazil has mandated face biometrics for use in large stadiums, a landmark move for the widespread implementation of the technology….

 

China’s supreme court releases facial recognition violation cases in crackdown

China’s highest court has upheld the need for stronger protection of personal information, emphasizing to judges the need to maintain…

 

Privacy doesn’t have to cost us great online services

By Andrew Black, Managing Director ConnectID and Sujeet Rana, Chief Digital Officer NAB For years, we accepted an implicit trade-off…

Comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Biometric Market Analysis

Most Viewed This Week

Featured Company

Biometrics Insight, Opinion

Digital ID In-Depth

Biometrics White Papers

Biometrics Events