Facial Recognition Lawsuit – Clearview AI

Date: July 20, 2020

Classification: Unclassified

Branch/Agency: RCMP

Issue:

A class-action lawsuit has been proposed relating to the RCMP’s use of Clearview AI’s facial recognition technology.

Proposed Response:

Background:

On July 8, 2020, a proposed class action was filed with the Federal Court of Canada alleging that Clearview AI collects, copies, stores, discloses and sells facial photos of Canadian residents without their knowledge or consent by using an algorithm to detect the unique face print of an individual. The plaintiff alleges that this is a violation of privacy rights, constitutional rights and their copyright and moral rights as the authors and holders of these rights have not consented to their reproduction and use by Clearview. Furthermore, the plaintiff has alleged that by becoming a customer and client, the RCMP obtained access to and used an illicit database, thus violating the rights of residents and citizens of Canada

As part of this proposed class action, the plaintiff is seeking:

Lastly, the proposed class members are:

Clearview AI provides access to a repository of images and any associated metadata that has been collected from publically available websites to facilitate image comparison. Privacy concerns have centered around the legality of law enforcement’s use of biometric technologies, including facial recognition, particularly around how the information is collected, used, disclosed, and retained. As a result, on February 21, 2020, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC), announced an investigation, with its counterparts in Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta, into whether Clearview AI and its use of facial recognition technology complies with Canadian privacy legislation.

On February 27, 2020, the RCMP acknowledged in a public statement that it had recently started to use and explore Clearview AI’s facial recognition technology in a limited capacity, in particular by the National Child Exploitation Crime Centre (NCECC). The RCMP’s NCECC had two paid licenses for the Clearview AI application and been using the technology since October 24, 2019. NCECC use has been limited to victim identification for investigations of online child sexual exploitation. To date, this technology has been used in 15 online child sexual exploitation cases, resulting in the successful identification and rescue of two children.

On February 28, 2020, the OPC announced that it would investigate the RCMP’s use of Clearview AI’s facial recognition technology. Since that time, the RCMP has been engaged by the OPC and is actively supporting its ongoing investigation into the RCMP’s use of Clearview AI. As part of this investigation, the RCMP has committed to working with the OPC to develop guidelines and policies on the future use of automated facial recognition technologies. On July 6, 2020, Clearview AI announced that they would cease to offer access to its facial recognition technology tool in Canada and has since suspended RCMP access to this technology.

Contacts:

Prepared by: Kees Bradley, Manager, Cybercrime and Information Sharing Policy, 343-540-5959

Approved by: Stephen White, Deputy Commissioner, Specialized Policing Services 613-843-4631

Date modified: