Canadian cops contract Idemia facial recognition

York Regional Police and Peel Regional Police have announced they are joining forces to contract and implement a facial recognition system to utilize crime scene images for comparison with mugshots.

However, privacy considerations have been a critical issue in the adoption of biometric capture for law enforcement in Canada. Controversy erupted when the RCMP and other Canadian police forces were found to have used Clearview AI’s facial recognition technology, which scraped over three billion images from the internet without consent.

To address this, both police agencies engaged with the Information and Privacy Commission of Ontario to ensure compliance with best practices and privacy standards. Idemia Public Security was selected to provide biometric facial recognition software following the consultation.

Additionally, to ensure the protection of individual privacy rights, the comparison of digital images will be conducted in accordance with the Identification of Criminals Act, which provides the legal framework for the collection and use of such images.

The police services say that individuals whose mugshots and fingerprints have been collected by York Regional Police under the Identification of Criminals Act may request the destruction of these records.

“Partnering with Peel Regional Police is cost-effective and enables us to collaborate more extensively to make both communities safer,” says Jim MacSween, York Regional Police Chief.

Idemia Public Security North America was also selected just weeks ago to provide analysis, comparison, and case management for forensic examiners in Volusia County, Florida.

The role of advanced biometric capture technology in enhancing the effectiveness of criminal investigations cannot be overstated. These systems expedite the process of identifying suspects.

Idemia discussed its LiveScan solutions, which aim to enhance the speed and quality of biometric capture, in a recent Biometric Update webinar, now available for free on-demand with registration. The webinar offers insights into leveraging biometric capture technology to optimize law enforcement efforts.

Improving speed and quality in biometric capture for law enforcement

Article Topics

biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  Canada  |  criminal ID  |  facial recognition  |  forensics  |  Idemia Public Security  |  Ontario  |  police  |  Toronto police