On Thursday, privacy watchdogs revealed that five million images of shoppersB次元官网网址� faces were collected without their consent at a dozen of CanadaB次元官网网址檚 most popular malls.
Real estate company Cadillac Fairview embedded cameras equipped with facial-recognition technology, which draws on machine-learning algorithms, in digital information kiosks to discern shoppersB次元官网网址� ages and genders, according to an investigation by the federal, Alberta and B.C. privacy commissioners.
But the commissioners had no authority to levy fines against the firm, or any companies that violate CanadiansB次元官网网址� personal information, an B次元官网网址渋ncredible shortcoming of Canadian law that should really change,B次元官网网址� B.C. information and privacy commissioner Michael McEvoy said in an email.
The revelation shines a light on the legal void around algorithmic technology. Despite its status as an artificial-intelligence hub, Canada has yet to develop a regulatory regime to deal with problems of privacy, discrimination and accountability to which AI systems are prone, prompting renewed calls for regulation from experts and businesses.
B次元官网网址淲e are now being required to expect systematic monitoring and surveillance in the way that we walk down the road, drive in our cars, chat with our friends online in small social-media bubbles. And it changes the way that public life occurs, to subject that free activity to systematic monitoring,B次元官网网址� said Kate Robertson, a Toronto-based criminal and constitutional lawyer.
At least 10 Canadian police agencies, including the RCMP and Calgary and Toronto police services, have used Clearview AI, a facial-recognition company that scraped images from the Internet for use in law enforcement investigations across the continent, according to a report co-written by Robertson.
Other Ontario police forces also may be B次元官网网址渦nlawfully interceptingB次元官网网址� private conversations in online chat rooms via B次元官网网址渁lgorithmic social-media surveillance technology,B次元官网网址� according to the September report from the University of TorontoB次元官网网址檚 Citizen Lab and International Human Rights Program.
Clearview AI said in July it will no longer provide facial recognition services in Canada, but many companies offer similar services.
B次元官网网址淲e have seen the lack of clear limits and focused regulation leaving an overly broad level of discretion in both the public and police sectors that is a call to action for governments across the country,B次元官网网址� Robertson said in a phone interview.
Canada needs to roll out concrete rules that balance privacy and innovation, said Carolina Bessega, co-founder and chief scientific officer of Montreal startup Stradigi AI.
Public trust in artificial intelligence becomes increasingly crucial as machine-learning companies move from the conceptual to the commercial stage, she said. B次元官网网址淎nd the best way to trust AI is to have clear regulations.B次元官网网址�
The regulatory vacuum also discourages businesses from deploying AI, holding back innovation and efficiency B次元官网网址� particularly in hospitals and clinics, where the implications can be life or death.
B次元官网网址淩ight now itB次元官网网址檚 like a grey area, and everybodyB次元官网网址檚 afraid making the decision of, B次元官网网址極K, letB次元官网网址檚 use artificial intelligence to improve diagnosis, or letB次元官网网址檚 use artificial intelligence to help recommend a treatment for a patient,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� Bessega said.
Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains tells The Canadian Press that an update to 20-year-old privacy legislation is due B次元官网网址渋n the coming weeksB次元官网网址� to address gaps in personal-data protection, but refused to nail down a timeline.
The would-be law should B次元官网网址渆mpower Canadians to have better accountability and to promote responsible innovation,B次元官网网址� he said.
Bains pointed to the European UnionB次元官网网址檚 General Data Protection Regulation from 2018 as a model that hands citizens more control over their privacy and digital information through B次元官网网址渃lear enforcement mechanisms,B次元官网网址� he said.
The absence of an AI legal framework has implications for Canadians in areas ranging from law enforcement to immigration.
So-called predictive policing B次元官网网址� automated decision-making based on data that predicts where a crime will occur or who will commit it B次元官网网址� has had a disproportionate impact on racialized communities, said Robertson of Citizen Lab.
Examples include a now-abandoned Chicago police initiative where the majority of people on a list of potential perpetrators were Black men who had no arrests or shooting incidents to their names, as well as a scuttled Los Angeles police strategy that saw officers targeting possible crime hot spots based on information gleaned from utility bills, foreclosure records and social-service files.
Since 2015, police departments in Vancouver, Edmonton, Saskatoon and London, Ont. have implemented or piloted predictive policing.
The federal immigration and refugee system also relies on algorithm-driven decisions to help determine factors such as whether a marriage is genuine or if someone should be designated as a B次元官网网址渞isk,B次元官网网址� according to another Citizen Lab study, which found the practice threatens to violate human-rights law.
AI testing and deployment in CanadaB次元官网网址檚 military prompted Canadian deep-learning pioneers Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio to warn about the dangers of robotic weapons and outsourcing lethal decisions to machines, and to call for an international agreement on their deployment.
The federal government launched the Advisory Council on Artificial Intelligence in May 2019, and Canada was among the first states to develop an official AI research plan, unveiling a $125-million strategy in 2017. But the focus of both is largely scientific and commercial.
The advisory council, which includes a working group that aims to B次元官网网址渇oster trustB次元官网网址� in the technology, has yet to produce a public report.
In June, Canada, France and 13 other countries launched an international AI partnership to guide policy development with an eye to human rights, with its working group on responsible AI co-chaired by Bengio (who also co-chairs the advisory council). But drafting laws is beyond its mandate.
B次元官网网址淐anadaB次元官网网址檚 approach to AI appears to be focused on funding research as opposed to developing regulations and governance structures,B次元官网网址� according to a U.S. Library of Congress report from January 2019.
Until legislation arrives in Parliament, experts say the observation still holds true.
Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press
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