A new digital ad that uses facial recognition in Toronto’s Financial District is raising ethical concerns over data collection.
The conversation was sparked over the weekend after a picture was posted online. A large digital advertisement displays a promotional taco menu for In Good Spirits.
While the screen may appear ordinary to the eye, the user who posted the image on Reddit shared a notice from Cineplex Digital Media (CDM), indicating that the “media unit” uses anonymous software to generate statistics about “audience counts, gender and approximate age only.”
The notice from CDM specifies that no unique images or data are recorded by the unit’s camera, noting that all imagery is processed within “milliseconds” before being permanently and immediately deleted.
CONCERNS ABOUT FACIAL RECOGNITION
Despite the notice from CDM, many have expressed concerns about how facial data is handled during and after processing, noting that there is no real option to opt out of being captured or scanned.
“I also love how they specify that the camera itself doesn’t retain your identifying information, but goes into zero detail with what happens to that identifying information during and after processing, when the camera has deleted it. Shady,” one Reddit user said.
“It’s like the websites that explain their privacy policies but don’t give you the option to decline, your only option is to not be there,” another user commented.
“Permanently deleted my a**. How is this legal without individual consent? This is getting scary,” another Redditor added.
CINEPLEX SAYS IT’S ABIDING BY PRIVACY LAWS
In a statement to Now Toronto on Monday, CDM said it sought an advisory consultation with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) regarding the specific Anonymous Video Analytics (AVA) technology that it employs to ensure that its use of AVA aligns with privacy laws in Canada and industry best practices.
“We strictly adhere to the guidance provided by the OPC, ensuring that our technology is used ethically, responsibly, and in compliance with all relevant privacy laws and regulations. The primary purpose of CDM’s AVA technology is audience counting, and there is no personal identification, no pictures stored, and no tracking or profiling of individuals.”
In 2018, North York’s Cadillac Fairview Mall was investigated by provincial and federal privacy commissioners after cameras embedded in the shopping centre’s digital information kiosks collected images of passersby using facial recognition technology without their consent or knowledge. The same practice was later found at several other malls across major Canadian cities.
Evan Light, associate professor in the Critical Information Policy Studies (CIPS) department at the University of Toronto, says that while the use of facial recognition technology is not new globally, it has only recently begun to be adopted in Canada.
“I remember in maybe 2017, seeing similar things in the U.K. And so, it’s interesting seeing it appear in Canada eight years later,” Light told Now Toronto on Monday.
WHAT DOES FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY DO?
According to Light, the software analyzes faces to determine gender and age, and appears to track people’s engagement with the ad on a granular level. However, he says there are still questions about the specific type of software being used, and how long the entire process takes.
“They [CDM] say the media unit runs anonymous software. I don’t know what that means. Does the software have a name, is the software itself anonymous? Usually, you would say ‘privacy protecting software,’ so, I’m not quite sure exactly what it is that they’re doing here, because they don’t explain it.”
“It could be seconds or minutes, depending on how long you spend in front of the board… they say that images are processed in a few milliseconds before being immediately and permanently deleted, which is a bit misleading because, I mean, if you’re in front of this display that is continuously taking pictures of people’s faces, then maybe every instance of a face being captured is processed and then deleted. It could be that you’re standing in front of the thing, and it takes your picture a thousand times. And then delete it a thousand times.”
Light says that while regulations governing the use of facial recognition technology in Canada are not yet fully defined, one key consideration remains clear.
“You need to obtain express consent from people whose images they’re capturing.”
As facial recognition technology and related regulations continue to evolve in Canada, Light says there are steps that can be taken in cases of malpractice, including filing a complaint to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC).
By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.
