China. All Rights Reserved. Or were you just unaware of the fact that these commissions are just a farce setup by politicians who don't actually want to do anything, they just want to make it look like they're doing something? The reason for this is called "empathy" which is something that people like you always are always in short supply. It must feel good to say anyone else must have cheated to best you, it makes you feel invincible and no need to do any better. “They were particularly concerned that the organization did not recognize that the mass collection of biometric information from billions of people, without express consent, violated the reasonable expectation of privacy of individuals and that the company was of the view that its business interests outweighed privacy rights,” the commissioners said. Always leave room to add an explanation if it doesn't work out. I've never posted my image anywhere on the internet. But who's counting anyhow? 06, 2020. However, the commissioners say Clearview disagreed with the findings of the investigation and “did not demonstrate a willingness to follow the other recommendations. Only one per corner? Canada’s privacy watchdog has found Clearview AI in “clear violation” of the country’s privacy laws, and has told the facial-recognition startup to stop scraping images of Canadians and delete all … In other words, making it public was you granting them permission. Individuals who placed or permitted their images to be placed on websites that were scraped did not have substantial privacy concerns justifying an infringement of the companyâs freedom of expression. The move included the indefinite suspension of Clearview AI's contract with the RCMP, its last remaining client in Canada. Before that I was a staff reporter at the Calgary Herald and the Brampton (Ont.) In a news release, they stated Clearview AIâs technology allowed law enforcement and commercial organizations to match photographs of unknown people against the companyâs databank of more than three billion images., These images included adults and children for investigation purposes without their knowledge or consent. The current privacy law that covers commercial firms, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), doesn’t give Therrien order-making powers. ... where mass surveillance in the name of 'safety' is just par for the course. Technology company Clearview AI engaged in mass surveillance when it scraped billions of internet images of people, Canadian privacy commissioners said Wednesday (February 3). There were prior precedents in which Canadian courts and the office of the privacy commissioner applied our privacy law extraterritorially using what is called the substantial connection test, he said. On the applicability of Canadian laws, the commissioners noted that Clearview AI collected the images of an unknown number of Canadians and actively marketed its services to law enforcement agencies in Canada. You've only got the Orwellian Starter Kit, and you think it's "bad" already. Jul. As I just passed through an airport on Sunday where I saw scanners from Clear, I thought at first this article was about them. You might not have told them they could sell copies of it, but you did say they can look at it. The database, which is marketed to private companies and U.S. law enforcement, contains over 3 billion images gathered from websites and social media. Clearview AI Violated Canadian Privacy Law, violated Canadian privacy laws by collecting photos of Canadians without their knowledge or consent, Submission: U.S. technology company Clearview AI violated Canadian privacy law: report, They Stormed the Capitol. Comments owned by the poster. Why should Clearview be able to monetize my image without my permission? When there is no freedom, there is great safety. (Copyright, perhaps? It stopped offering trial accounts to Canadian organizations and discontinued services to its only remaining Canadian subscriber, the RCMP, in July 2020. Daily Times. However, he can go to the Federal Court to get a compliance order, and Therrien told reporters he’s considering that. In other words - don't punish the toolmaker, define how the tool can not be used. Instead, the Commissioners found that Clearview's "real purpose" for the collection is a commercial for-profit enterprise and not law enforcement. Then again, of course they would report that it works. Its company who deployed it that did that. The resolution says organizations should ensure that facial recognition technology cannot be used where the purpose can reasonably be achieved by less intrusive means. Without JavaScript enabled, you might want to turn on Classic Discussion System in your preferences instead. The company has developed technology that can match faces to a database of more than three billion images indexed from the Internet, including … Used to sit outside the drive in and watch movies too, since I could see it in public, I guess I could have made a copy. A total of 48 law enforcement and other organizations across the country used the application for a time. Meanwhile, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s investigation into the RCMPâs use of Clearview AIâs facial recognition technology continues. No new comments can be posted. “In our view, Clearviewâs position fails to acknowledge: (i) the myriad of instances where false, or misapplied matches could result in reputational damage, and (ii) more fundamentally, the affront to individualsâ privacy rights and broad-based harm inflicted on all members of society, who find themselves under continual mass surveillance by Clearview based on its indiscriminate scraping and processing of their facial images.”, At a news conference, Therrien said because the company scraped images across the internet, not even it knows how many in its database of 3 billion images are Canadians. Don't be so hard on USA, North Korea also doing it. No doubt they'll claim that "it was publicly available, so it's all fair [for any] use [,man!]". North Korea doesn't have mobs of violent racists trying to break into the capital to murder the elected government. They probably have a point there, too. The full report notes that in disagreeing with the findings, Clearview alleged an absence of harm to individuals connected to its activities. Amazon is using AI-equipped cameras in delivery vans and some drivers are concerned about privacy (CNBC) The cameras record drivers “100% of the time” while they’re on their route and flag a series of safety infractions, including failure to stop at a stop sign, speeding and distracted driving. They made it public. The claimant submitted a complaint to the Hamburg DPA after discovering that Clearview AI … ... where mass surveillance in the name of 'safety' is just par for the course. You don't punish someone because it is possible for their work to be misused. The software firm has been used by law enforcement agencies around the world – including Toronto – allowing them to follow up on potential suspects with Clearview’s massive profile database. Clearview AI is a search engine that collects public data just as much larger companies do, including Google, which is permitted to operate in Canada.â. You don't have to make a profit at the expense of others; you can also do so in benefitting them. Around 15+ years ago, if your company has an office in China, it was so easy to hea. While there is an exemption in PIPEDA for collecting personal data like pictures without consent in certain circumstances, he added, it is not surprising that the privacy commissioners found the exception didnât apply to Clearview. We are not responsible for them in any way. The funny thing is, they actually succeeded. on Wednesday February 03, 2021 @09:08PM (, on Wednesday February 03, 2021 @09:50PM (, on Wednesday February 03, 2021 @10:21PM (. China put cameras in all train/subway stations, airports, public areas, etc, and all the robbery/pick pocket/etc so common 10-20 years ago were ALL GONE. Clearview AI's technology allows for the collection of huge numbers of images from various sources that can help police forces, financial institutions and … If you don't want cops to be able to track people as they move around, say that. For a small fee, you too can violate the constitutional rights of any individual you wish to target. ". Four of Canada’s privacy commissioners have denounced the controversial facial recognition company Clearview AI. Constitutionally it follows from the right to be free from unreasonable searches, basically our equivalent of America's 4th amendment.Why should the cops be able to bypass the courts by contracting a private company? Separately, the federal commissioner’s office, along with provincial counterparts, are developing guidance for law enforcement agencies on the use of facial recognition technologies. Clearview cannot be held responsible for offering services to law enforcement or any other entity that subsequently makes an error in its assessment of the person being investigated. It is easy to have tons of "safety" by monitoring and policing and suppressing everything everyone does. If someone posts a movie to Facebook or YouTube, does that mean I'm free to use it? The three provincial privacy commissioners do have order-making powers, and all three told reporters they are considering their options. https://www.macrotrends.net/co... [macrotrends.net], One excuse was that the US police cannot (by law) to use camera footages to catch criminals (which begs the question of what the cameras were for), furthermore that excuse is not untenable thanks to the 06Jan riots where there was suddenly no problem with using any availabl. New York-based Clearview AI’s practice of vacuuming up millions of images of Canadians and offering facial recognition services for customers constituted illegal “mass surveillance,” according to a probe by four privacy commissioners.. The just course of action is to apply specific rules prohibiting specific forms of misuse. Clearview AI scrapes photos from websites to create a searchable database of biometric profiles. There are, however, other potential issues with doing that. The commissioners also note that Facebook, Google, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn have filed letters with Clearview AI demanding it stop scraping images from their sites. dillac Fairview collected 5 million shoppersâ images without proper consent, Cybersecurity Conversations with your Board – A Survival Guide. Shortly after the investigation began, Clearview agreed to stop providing its services in Canada. The RCMP became a paying customer. Nobody has ever taken issue with people making a profit. Are we allowed to say icky words like that in our comments!?! Consent was not required because the information was publicly available. It's not a zero sum game. sinij shares a report from CBC.ca: American technology firm Clearview AI violated Canadian privacy laws by collecting photos of Canadians without their knowledge or consent, an investigation by four of Canada's privacy commissioners has found.The report found that Clearview's technology created a significant risk to individuals … Ah, to be clear, Americans probably didn't have a damn clue when they clicked "I Agree" on the EULA for this. I'm not saying it wasn't needed/ That's for everyone to debate. According to the report, one objection raised by Clearview AI is that none of the privacy commissioners had jurisdiction to investigate the company because, as a U.S.-based firm, it doesn’t have a clear connection here. Commissioners found that this creates the risk of significant harm to individuals, the vast majority of whom have never been and will never be implicated in a crime. I mean, most businesses would insist that this is what they do, including Clearview, but many are simply lying, and many others have been overcome by cognitive dissonance. >"You know which country is huge on mass surveillance in the name of safety? It is neither funny nor good, however, just obvious. Facial recognition tech startup Clearview AI scraped billions of images of people from across the Internet, which according to Canada, represented mass surveillance and was a clear violation of the privacy rights … And all it cost was an automated system of social ranking where if a computer sees you too close to someone they don't like you go on a list preventing you from having a job or buying a bus pass. Clearview AI has rejected recommendations to stop collecting images of people in Canada and delete previously collected biometric details of individuals. However, the company rejected the commissioners' recommendations to stop collecting images of people in Canada and delete previously collected images and biometric details. But maybe you want to have the option for law enforcement to have help identifying someone who is on video committing a crime. Because you told the entire world they could when you posted it on Facebook. âWhat Clearview does is mass surveillance and it is illegal,” federal privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien wrote. “It is completely unacceptable for millions of people who will never be implicated in any crime to find themselves continually in a police lineup. “Clearview AI is a search engine that collects public data just as much larger companies do, including Google, which is permitted to operate in Canada,” Mitchell said Wednesday. Our handling of Covid really twists my brain in knots. The commissioners also note that Facebook, Google, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn have filed letters with Clearview AI demanding it stop scraping images from their sites. In addition, the report noted that Clearview collected, used and disclosed Canadiansâ personal information for inappropriate purposes, which cannot be rendered appropriate via consent. I believe we also hold the rights to our images. What Happens If the US Does Absolutely Nothing To Combat COVID-19. In October 2020, global privacy commissioners passed a resolution acknowledging it can benefit security and public safety. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, just make rules that restrict the ability to do so and say that a computer match alone is not sufficient to arrest someone. I'm all for it! That, he acknowledged, creates a problem in asking that the images of Canadians be removed. It isn't monitoring or active observation, it's just pictures of the past. It's not done for safety at all. Clearview asserts that they are not bound by Canadian law because they don't have "substantial connections" to Canada. Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive. There may be more comments in this discussion. What the hell is the point if all they can do is raise a flag that bad stuff is going on but not stop said bad stuff? When presented with the investigative findings, Clearview argued that: The four commissioners rejected these arguments. Don't give the power to bureaucrats, the elected representatives of the people must make the rules. This discussion has been archived. Star Exclusive. Guidelines for consultation are expected to be released in the spring. However, the resolution also asserts that facial recognition can erode data protection, privacy and human rights because it is highly intrusive. This comment is so hilarious in the current climate of "everything China does is wrong and US will do the opposite" sentiment pervasive in the US. I tried that, but the van driver and the security guard got upset. As the old adage says, "it's impossible to convince a man of something that will cost him his livelihood. The company maintains that the public information it collects from the internet “is explicitly permitted under PIPEDA.”, “The Federal Court of Appeal has previously ruled in the privacy context that publicly available information means exactly what it says: “available or accessible by the citizenry at large,”, he said. “There is no reason to apply a different standard here. Parliamentarians reviewing [the proposed] Bill C-11 may wish to send a clear message, through that bill, that where there is a conflict between commercial objectives and privacy protection, Canadiansâ privacy rights should prevail.â. The privacy authorities recommended that Clearview stop offering its facial recognition services to Canadian clients; stop collecting images of individuals in Canada; and delete all previously collected images and biometric facial arrays of individuals in Canada. Sickens me to read that the Canadian privacy commissioners can't do squat to punish companies who do this. If you are feeling chivalrous during a ship's sinking, no more worrying about which pronouns an imminent victim uses! The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. If you don't want businesses tracking people, say that. Real time defamation. FTFS: "...including Canadians and children." It's probably worse in the US that can afford better tech tools. They also allege that obtaining photos from public sources isn't surveillance or a privacy issue. However, it could probably be countered that they profited from the use of those images, so claims for copyright infringement might stick. Canadian privacy laws do not apply to its activities because the company does not have a âreal and substantial connectionâ to Canada. Check out the new BlockFi credit card that offers 1.5% Bitcoin rewards on all purchases! North Korea has the kind of stability and security that US politicians, law enforcement, and social planners can only dream of. Yet, I really don't understand modern views on proportionality. And do so through the legislative process. Lying about what they posted just means the biggest asshole is you. Yet the company continues to claim its purposes were appropriate, citing the requirement under federal privacy law that its business needs be balanced against privacy rights. Great idea, going after Clearview. The joint investigation by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta concluded that the New-York-based technology company violated federal and provincial privacy laws. 12 Clearview… I would rather be a little unsafe and have freedom, especially when I am empowered to defend myself... yet another freedom. Eeew! In an email, privacy lawyer Barry Sookman of the McCarthy Tetrault law firm said the report’s conclusions aren’t suprising. I went through the regular TSA line (without even TSA precheck) in the same amount of time as the passengers with Clear. In a statement, Doug Mitchell, an attorney for Clearview AI, said the company’s technology is not currently available in Canada and it does not operate in Canada. As I mentioned in my original post, anyone who actually worked with anyone in China can easily verify that crimes like robbery or pickpocket was a problem 15 years ago, and is now no longer. Safety and freedom are diametrically opposed. But Clearview’s scraping of billions of images of Canadians from across the internet represented mass surveillance and was a clear violation of their privacy rights, the commissioners said in a report issued this morning. The funny part is the US is putting up tons of cameras with little to show in terms of crime rate reduction, the crime rate was basically flat since 2000, and it is almost 10x that of China (4.96 vs 0.53). Remote Tasmanian Island To Be Powered By 'Blowhole' Energy That Harnesses Waves, Malicious Chrome and Edge Add-Ons Had a Novel Way To Hide On 3 Million Devices. The proposed C-11 would give the federal commissioner order-making powers. I can be reached at hsolomon [@] soloreporter.com, Cogeco's plan to reduce emissions from operations by 65% gets nod from STBi, A SURVIVAL GUIDE BY CLAUDIO SILVESTRI, VICE-PRESIDENT AND CIO, NAV CANADA, Canadaâs Top Women in Fintech/Blockchain, Clearview AI violated privacy rights of Canadians with facial recognition tech, say privacy commissioners. Doesn't mean someone hasn't though and I still own the rights to my image. Canada doesn't have fair use, instead we have fair dealing, similar but different. Given the significant potential benefit of Clearview’s services to law enforcement and national security and the fact that significant harm is unlikely to occur for individuals, the balancing of privacy rights and Clearviewâs business needs favoured the companyâs entirely appropriate purposes. Clearview AI says its right to scrape data is lawful under the U.S. Constitution’s freedom of speech provision. It is easy to have tons of "safety" by monitoring and policing and suppressing everything everyone does. The report highlights the inability of the federal privacy commissioner to order Clearview AI to remove the images. ", consider.it is not machines that are at fault.it is not businesses that are at fault.it is people.follow the money. I wonder how that company will do if travel numbers stay this low much longer? Clearview AI to pull out of Canada and stop working with RCMP amid privacy investigation. First off, scraping public websites for photos is not "surveillance". It sickens you that a panel of bureaucrats can't supplant due process and punish people it alone decides are guilty of breaking the law? You know which country is huge on mass surveillance in the name of safety? If you think someone is an asshole, say so. That, they say, is a violation of their terms of service with users. The results of our work also point to the need to strengthen our privacy laws to properly protect the public.â. Currently a freelance writer, I'm the former editor of ITWorldCanada.com and Computing Canada. Clearview AI’s technology allows for the collection of huge numbers of images from various sources that can help police forces, financial institutions and … Why do you think that if something is publicly available, that you can do what you want with it?I note that Americans got upset about lists of gun owners being published and in America, if you find some copyrighted material on the. “The Clearview investigation shows that across Canada we need to be discussing acceptable uses and regulation of facial recognition. To be fair however most of them have no intention of complying with whatever they agreed to so they got that going for them, which is nice. Seriously, it's 100% profit-driven. Regulation would not only assist in upholding privacy rights, it would provide much-needed certainty to all organizations thinking about using or developing the technology.â, “Our investigation reveals the vast amount of personal information collected without peopleâs knowledge or consent,” said McEvoy. “It is unacceptable and deeply troubling that a company would create a giant database of our biometric data and sell it for profit without recognizing its invasive nature. Since Kashmir began reporting on Clearview AI, several major social media companies including Facebook, Twitter and Venmo have demanded that the company stop using photos scraped from their websites. Don't tell Clearview they can't look at public photos, define the limits on how the trained systems can be used. They could be used to facilitate surveillance, but that's not the same thing. The joint federal, B.C., Alberta and Quebec investigation released Wednesday found that Clearview … Clearview AI offers facial recognition services for law enforcement and other organizations VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A U.S. company is being slammed for what amounts to mass surveillance of Canadians, scraping billions of images of people from across the internet in what’s being called a clear violation … 11 This commercial purpose was not appropriate, reasonable or legitimate for "the mass identification and surveillance of individuals" facilitated by Clearview's technology. And that is probably the point of this "action". I find privacy just weird as a Canadian.Do I want the government or anyone performing mass surveillance? They have a point and any judgement that might be obtained against them is likely to have no direct consequences for them. Despite opposition from privacy advocates to facial recognition, privacy commissioners around the world aren’t opposed to the idea of the technology. Clearview AI is a search engine that collects public data just as much larger companies do, including Google, which is permitted to operate in Canada.” The company is estimated to have scraped some three billion images from public-facing websites and social media profiles to build the face-matching service that is widely … The government of Canada is willing to do all kinds of emergency measures including curfews, shutting down society, preventing you from seeing friends and family... all massive violations of personal freedom. Sure, don't believe me, don't go out to look for facts and continue to enjoy living in your bubble. Their Apps Tracked Them, Re:Said every country but the good ol' USA, Tech to bring in the social score society hell, Wait until you see what FaceFirst is doing, Defeating Trump, Joe Biden Declared Winner of US Presidential Election, Trump Attacks Legitimate Vote-Counting Efforts and Claims Fraud Without Basis, America Now Has Most COVID-19 Deaths in the World -- 20% of All Fatalities. Photo by Clearview handout Article content Besides, if you read the article you'll see that the company has a pretty good argument - "Clearview AI's technology is not available in Canada and it does not operate in Can. Trademarks property of their respective owners. And hey, another big business profiting off the backs (well, faces) of everyone once again. Is recognizing someone from a photo somehow a form of "mass surveillance"? That's a misuse of moderation. Soon coming to a former democracy you used to call your country. "Canadians and children first!". Copyright © 2021 SlashdotMedia. "Watchlisting as a service" and a "full range of biometric surveillance". London, UK, is really bad. An IT journalist since 1997, I've written for several of ITWC's sister publications including ITBusiness.ca and Computer Dealer News. The commissioners’ position was best reflected by a statement to reporters by B.C information and privacy commissioner Michael McEvoy, who said “when I put my information on Facebook or some other platform I do it for a particular purpose, and what happens here is these companies have disregarded that purpose and without authority have taken that information” for a commercial application. Clearview AI is an American technology company that provides facial recognition software, which is used by private companies, law enforcement agencies, universities and individuals. China. People have only taken issue with people making a profit at the expense of others. The commissioners disagreed, noting “it actively marketed its services to Canadian organizations through promotional material, testimonials from Canadian law enforcement professionals, and agency-specific presentations and trials. That is an injustice. It also enables widespread surveillance that can produce inaccurate results. lol.i am thinking that the user for the money would also be attentive. Well, ideally they'd bring charges so that due process would happen and the big problem seems to be selling the data to the police so they can bypass the courts oversight.It's true that due to lack of presence in Canada, we can't do much, though we could play American and bust any of their executives who happen to stop in Canada. The funny thing is, they actually succeeded. The stance taken by Clearview that it is in compliance with the laws that apply to it underscores the need for greater oversight of the use of this technology as well as providing regulatory authorities with additional tools of deterrence like those proposed in [Quebec’s] Bill 64.â, Jill Clayton, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta, said that as the use of facial recognition technology expands, significant issues around accuracy, automated decision making, proportionality and ethics persist.