Four Canadian Tire stores in BC broke privacy law by using facial recognition technology (FRT) on unsuspecting customers..A new report from the office of the information and privacy commissioner of BC found the stores had not notified, or gained consent from, their customers for three years..FRT developed by FaceFirst and AxxonSoft was used by the four stores to prevent shoplifting and protect staff and customers, according to the report..All four ceased using FRT when they became aware of the November 2021 investigation..“The systems collected facial images or videos of individuals entering the stores, created biometric templates from those faces, and compared these to a database of previously collected photos and biometric templates representing persons of interest who had allegedly been involved in incidents at Canadian Tire stores in the same region,” said the report.. Canadian TireStock image .“The investigation showed the stores did not adequately notify customers and did not obtain consent for the collection of personal information using FRT.”.“Even if the stores had obtained consent, which they failed to do, they were still required to demonstrate a reasonable purpose for collection and use. The investigation found that they did not do so.”.“Factors in that determination included the amount and sensitivity of the personal information collected, the limited likelihood of achieving the purposes for collection, and the availability of less-intrusive options.”.The report recommended a privacy management plan for all four stores, and included two recommendations for the Government of BC, namely the regulation of FRT and an amendment to the Personal Information Protection Act to include additional obligations for organizations.
