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Ottawa police admit officers tested Clearview AI facial recognition software – Ottawa Citizen

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The Ottawa Police Service now says members of its internet child exploitation unit, which investigates child pornography crimes, created Clearview AI accounts.


Ottawa Police Service


Ashley Fraser / Postmedia

Ottawa police now say members of the force’s internet child exploitation unit, which investigates child pornography crimes, “created accounts with Clearview AI and tested the efficacy” of the controversial facial recognition software whose unsanctioned use by police forces in this country has prompted internal and external investigations.

City police said Friday that the service was in the process of “polling all of our members” to determine how many officers and in which units had downloaded the software and used it on a free trial basis.

“We expect this will take approximately 4-6 weeks to complete,” police said in a statement. Police could not immediately say in what circumstances the software had been used.

Staff sergeants have been asking members of their units whether any officers downloaded the program. The force has previously said the only sanctioned use of facial recognition software by its officers, and the only one paid for by the public dime, occurred in a three-month pilot of different software last year.

Controversy has swirled around law enforcement’s use of facial recognition technology since a January investigation by the New York Times into a company called Clearview AI. The Times’ story detailed how the company had created a massive database of open-sourced images scraped from websites across the internet, including Facebook. Police could then use the database for comparison with things like surveillance images.

Other facial recognition software, like one piloted by Ottawa police in 2019, compared images not with a database of publicly scraped images, but with internal mugshots that had already been legally obtained by police through arrests and the laying of criminal charges.

This newspaper asked Ottawa police whether they had tested or purchased Clearview AI or any other facial recognition technology on Jan. 24. Nearly three weeks later, Ottawa police responded that they had piloted software, but didn’t immediately name it before revealing the pilot involved a different software. It’s taken five weeks overall for police to preliminarily answer that officers did test Clearview.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police would first not answer whether it had used Clearview, initially saying it “does not comment on specific investigative tools or techniques. However, we continue to monitor new and evolving technology.”

Canadian police forces began rethinking and reissuing their responses this week, when it was revealed Clearview’s client list had been hacked.

Subsequent reporting by Buzzfeed News and The Toronto Star, whose reporters viewed data on the client list, revealed that Clearview AI’s clients included not just law enforcement agencies abroad and in Canada, but also private companies. That was news to not just the public, but also police services that had not known the extent of Clearview’s use among officers acting without approval from their bosses.

RCMP on Thursday revealed its use of the technology, which prompted the federal privacy commissioner Friday to launch an investigation under the Privacy Act.

Privacy experts across the country have sounded an alarm over use of Clearview AI by law enforcement without a robust legal framework underpinning it.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada had already announced it would jointly investigate Clearview AI with privacy regulators in Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta.

Ontario’s privacy commissioner, Brian Beamish, has urged any police service using Clearview AI to immediately halt the practice and to contact the commission.

“We question whether there are any circumstances where it would be acceptable to use Clearview AI,” Beamish said in mid-February, when Toronto police revealed use by its officers.

Ottawa police said Friday that once an internal survey was done and a “full review is conducted on the instances where the Clearview AI was used,” police would report the findings and any recommendations to the police board, which governs the service.

Police have said any plans to permanently implement facial recognition technology would be subject to police board approval and would require the service to fully explore ethical, legal and practical implications.

Police also revealed Friday that, when they did pilot the technology of NeoFace Reveal in 2019, Clearview AI had not been “invited to bid and did not bid in this pilot project.”

Criminal charges did result from use of the approved facial recognition technology pilot in 2019. Police have not said whether charges resulted from the use of Clearview AI.

Chief Peter Sloly, speaking this week, was clear that, while he had no plans to use facial recognition technology, he saw it as the way of the future.

He gave the example of investigating child pornography, the exact work being done by the Ottawa officers who have admitted to trying the software, in which even a simple case can have hundreds of thousands of images as evidence.

Someone has to sit and look at “the most devastating images that a human being can subject themselves to,” Sloly said.

“Why would I take on that human toll when I could use facial recognition and other AI-related technology to do the large data dump, threat assessment, risk assessment, evidentiary assessment and only expose the human being to a limited percentage of that in order to get to a successful investigation.”

The force is expected to answer questions on its use of technology and privacy considerations at a police board committee meeting Monday.

syogaretnam@postmedia.com

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Canada Goose to get into eyewear through deal with Marchon

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TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. says it has signed a deal that will result in the creation of its first eyewear collection.

The deal announced on Thursday by the Toronto-based luxury apparel company comes in the form of an exclusive, long-term global licensing agreement with Marchon Eyewear Inc.

The terms and value of the agreement were not disclosed, but Marchon produces eyewear for brands including Lacoste, Nike, Calvin Klein, Ferragamo, Longchamp and Zeiss.

Marchon plans to roll out both sunglasses and optical wear under the Canada Goose name next spring, starting in North America.

Canada Goose says the eyewear will be sold through optical retailers, department stores, Canada Goose shops and its website.

Canada Goose CEO Dani Reiss told The Canadian Press in August that he envisioned his company eventually expanding into eyewear and luggage.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GOOS)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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A timeline of events in the bread price-fixing scandal

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Almost seven years since news broke of an alleged conspiracy to fix the price of packaged bread across Canada, the saga isn’t over: the Competition Bureau continues to investigate the companies that may have been involved, and two class-action lawsuits continue to work their way through the courts.

Here’s a timeline of key events in the bread price-fixing case.

Oct. 31, 2017: The Competition Bureau says it’s investigating allegations of bread price-fixing and that it was granted search warrants in the case. Several grocers confirm they are co-operating in the probe.

Dec. 19, 2017: Loblaw and George Weston say they participated in an “industry-wide price-fixing arrangement” to raise the price of packaged bread. The companies say they have been co-operating in the Competition Bureau’s investigation since March 2015, when they self-reported to the bureau upon discovering anti-competitive behaviour, and are receiving immunity from prosecution. They announce they are offering $25 gift cards to customers amid the ongoing investigation into alleged bread price-fixing.

Jan. 31, 2018: In court documents, the Competition Bureau says at least $1.50 was added to the price of a loaf of bread between about 2001 and 2016.

Dec. 20, 2019: A class-action lawsuit in a Quebec court against multiple grocers and food companies is certified against a number of companies allegedly involved in bread price-fixing, including Loblaw, George Weston, Metro, Sobeys, Walmart Canada, Canada Bread and Giant Tiger (which have all denied involvement, except for Loblaw and George Weston, which later settled with the plaintiffs).

Dec. 31, 2021: A class-action lawsuit in an Ontario court covering all Canadian residents except those in Quebec who bought packaged bread from a company named in the suit is certified against roughly the same group of companies.

June 21, 2023: Bakery giant Canada Bread Co. is fined $50 million after pleading guilty to four counts of price-fixing under the Competition Act as part of the Competition Bureau’s ongoing investigation.

Oct. 25 2023: Canada Bread files a statement of defence in the Ontario class action denying participating in the alleged conspiracy and saying any anti-competitive behaviour it participated in was at the direction and to the benefit of its then-majority owner Maple Leaf Foods, which is not a defendant in the case (neither is its current owner Grupo Bimbo). Maple Leaf calls Canada Bread’s accusations “baseless.”

Dec. 20, 2023: Metro files new documents in the Ontario class action accusing Loblaw and its parent company George Weston of conspiring to implicate it in the alleged scheme, denying involvement. Sobeys has made a similar claim. The two companies deny the allegations.

July 25, 2024: Loblaw and George Weston say they agreed to pay a combined $500 million to settle both the Ontario and Quebec class-action lawsuits. Loblaw’s share of the settlement includes a $96-million credit for the gift cards it gave out years earlier.

Sept. 12, 2024: Canada Bread files new documents in Ontario court as part of the class action, claiming Maple Leaf used it as a “shield” to avoid liability in the alleged scheme. Maple Leaf was a majority shareholder of Canada Bread until 2014, and the company claims it’s liable for any price-fixing activity. Maple Leaf refutes the claims.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:L, TSX:MFI, TSX:MRU, TSX:EMP.A, TSX:WN)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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TD CEO to retire next year, takes responsibility for money laundering failures

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TORONTO – TD Bank Group, which is mired in a money laundering scandal in the U.S., says chief executive Bharat Masrani will retire next year.

Masrani, who will retire officially on April 10, 2025, says the bank’s, “anti-money laundering challenges,” took place on his watch and he takes full responsibility.

The bank named Raymond Chun, TD’s group head, Canadian personal banking, as his successor.

As part of a transition plan, Chun will become chief operating officer on Nov. 1 before taking over the top job when Masrani steps down at the bank’s annual meeting next year.

TD also announced that Riaz Ahmed, group head, wholesale banking and president and CEO of TD Securities, will retire at the end of January 2025.

TD has taken billions in charges related to ongoing U.S. investigations into the failure of its anti-money laundering program.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TD)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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