Canada’s border agency plans to join several other countries and begin using facial recognition technology at entry points.
The idea is to compare video images of people arriving at border points against those on criminal data-bases and so-called “watchlists” in an effort to keep out alleged terrorists and criminals. It would also prevent people who have been deported from trying to regain entry using false documents under a different name.
The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) has been working with the University of Quebec and other developers to determine how well the technology works under various lighting and crowd movement situations in extracting information from video images.
The technology will be tested at various locations in an operational context although apparently no trials involving actual travelers has yet taken place. It could eventually be installed at US-Canada border points and at international airports.
The technology has already been assessed by the CBSA in settings such as video footage of interview counter, hallways, waiting rooms and baggage pickup areas.
The federal privacy watchdog has issued a cautionary note to the CBSA that there is a possibility of “false positives” and that it could cause undue scrutiny of innocent travelers.
The privacy commissioner said to work properly, good quality digital video images of a person’s face are needed to be compared against a database of “people of interest”.
A Canadian Senate committee report of June 2015, made several recommendations for increased security were made including one on the increased use and sharing of biometric data gathered from people
Recommendation 10 – The Government of Canada should fully implement a plan to collect biometric information from all foreign nationals arriving in Canada, subject to existing provisions in agreements with other governments. Further, the CBSA should use this biometric information to verify the departure of all foreign nationals, subject to privacy and security safeguards.
The report also stated that in 2015, “Canada and the United States countries have already begun sharing limited biographic and biometric immigration information.
The federal government is already using biometric security technology in some circumstances in Canada in the form of fingerprint analysis, an iris, or facial contours.
The police in Calgary Alberta were the first police force in this country to use facial recognition technology, and all provincial driving licence agencies also use facial recognition technology.
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