An attempt by members of parliament to learn more about the RCMP’s use of controversial face recognition software hit the wall on Monday, as an MP accused police officers of being “deliberately evasive”.
The Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics met this morning to continue its study on the use of emerging technologies in Canada.
Their efforts come a year after Federal Privacy Commissioner Daniel Terien said RCMP’s use of face recognition software created by US-based Clearview AI was a serious violation of Canadian privacy laws.
This software allows users to map photos to a database of more than three billion images.
In a heated interrogation on Monday, NDP MP Matthew Green pressured Gordon Sage, director general of sensitive and specialized RCMP investigative services, to say who licensed the software for use by RCMP in 2018 and who oversaw the process.
“Can you name your predecessor?” he asked.
NDP MP Matthew Green arrives for a committee hearing at the Wellington Building in Ottawa on Wednesday, July 22, 2020 (Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press)
After an exchange back and forth, Sage finally said that the employee in question had retired since then and did not think he had the right to name them.
“My view is that you have given your predecessor more attention to their rights to be named in a situation that is truly public information in a public forum than to the billions of people whose images have been compiled and analyzed by this AI. technology, “Green said.
“What we have, what I have – I will talk about myself – is a significant problem with trust.”
Warning of disrespect for parliament
Conservative MP James Bézanne later described the responses received from committee members by the three RCMP staff called as witnesses as “deliberately evasive” – and reminded them that they could be found in disrespect to parliament if they do not co-operate.
“Some of the answers we received today were very limited, and I would suggest that witnesses fulfill their responsibilities to this committee, that those of us around the table have parliamentary privileges and we expect comprehensive answers,” he said.
“And the answers in one word and the fact that we are wrong do not do our job as members of the committee.”
Conservative MP James Bézanne asks a question during the Questionnaire in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on 27 October 2016 (Adrian Wyld / Canadian Press)
The RCMP initially denied using the Clearview AI software in 2020. It later confirmed that it had used the software after news emerged that the company’s client list had been hacked.
That same year, a New York Times investigation revealed that the software had extracted more than three billion photos from public websites such as Facebook and Instagram. It then turned them into a database used by more than 600 law enforcement agencies in the United States, Canada and elsewhere.
The company stopped offering its face recognition services in Canada after the launch of the Federal Privacy Commissioner’s investigation. The RCMP said it had stopped using the software.
The RCMP says it has used the technology three times
Sage said Monday that the force used Clearview AI in three official cases: twice at the child exploitation unit and once to track down a fugitive who was abroad.
“There were a lot of members testing the technology to see if it worked. They used a lot of searching in their own photos, in their own profiles, to see if this technology worked. “They took pictures of celebrities and reviewed Clearview to see if it worked,” he said.
“In fact, as we tested this technology, we realized that it wasn’t always effective.”
Following a backlash about the use of Clearview AI technology, RCMP announced plans to be more transparent about how it approves and uses new technologies and investigative tools, including the collection and use of personal information.
The RCMP promises to publish this new policy by the end of June.
On Monday, the committee concluded with members agreeing to invite RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucky to attend.
“[The RCMP] in my opinion, it does not demonstrate the ability to have a kind of frankness and openness with civilian oversight bodies, such as the House of Commons, to provide basic information about Canadians who are concerned about their civil liberties, “Green said during questioning.
Last week, Terien and his provincial counterparts issued a statement calling on lawmakers to create rules that explicitly state when police can use face recognition technology.
“Restricted areas must include a ban on all use of facial recognition, which could lead to mass surveillance,” they wrote.
“Legislation should require police to use face recognition to be necessary and proportionate to any implementation of the technology.
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