An Ontario university is pulling dozens of vending machines that were tracking the age and gender of customers in the latest example of pushback against technology that tests the boundaries of privacy rules.
The move comes amid opposition from University of Waterloo students, who became aware of the technology after a Reddit user spotted an on-screen error message on one of the machines earlier this month, about an apparent problem with its facial recognition program.
“The natural question that follows there is, ‘Why does it have a facial recognition app? How can this error even exist?'” said River Stanley, a fourth-year computer science and business student who broke the story in the campus journal mathNEWS.
The university says it has asked that all 29 machines, from the Switzerland-based company Invenda, be removed “as soon as possible,” and that the software be disabled in the meantime.
“We thank our students for bringing this matter to our attention,” said university spokesperson Rebecca Elming.
She did not respond to a followup question from CBC News about whether the university was planning to change its procurement process if machines with facial analysis technology were showing up unbeknownst to administrators.
This error message was spotted by a university student and posted on Reddit, raising questions about why the machines had such technology. (Reddit)
Invenda says the machines use facial analysis, not facial recognition, software, and that it isn’t storing data or photos.
The company says its technology is mainly used to tell when a person is standing in front of a vending machine, and to change the screen from “standby” mode, which shows ads, to “sales” mode, which shows different products.
Critics say that explanation isn’t good enough, and that customers should know whether they’re being watched and be given the choice to opt in.
“There was no [camera] marking on these vending machines at all,” said Stanley.
Stanley investigated further, contacted the vending machine operator and Invenda, and published a story that was later picked up by CTV Kitchener.
Approximately 100 Invenda vending machines have been shipped to Canada, the company said, although it’s not clear if all of them have been installed.
Student River Stanley, who is pursuing a double degree in computer science and business, wrote about the machines in the campus journal MathNEWS. (Karis Blake/CBC)
No one from Invenda was available for an interview Monday, a spokesperson said, but in an email the company emphasized that its software is used for people detection and facial analysis, not facial recognition.
“People detection solely identifies the presence of individuals whereas, facial recognition goes further to discern and specify individual persons,” the statement said.
The machines can “only determine if an anonymous individual faces the device, for what duration, and approximates basic demographic attributes unidentifiably.”
The company said those “basic demographic attributes” include age and gender — information that one privacy advocate says would help retailers decide which products are most likely to sell.
“No point putting products in the vending machine that aren’t going to sell, take up space and just cost money to throw out when they’re stale,” said Sharon Polsky, president of the Privacy and Access Council of Canada, who is based in Calgary.
“From a business perspective, it absolutely makes sense.”
WATCH | Privacy violations at the mall:
Shoppers’ privacy violated at major Canadian malls: Privacy commissioners
3 years ago
Duration 2:01
Cadillac Fairview, the real estate company behind some of Canada’s biggest malls, violated the privacy of shoppers by collecting five million images without consent from cameras inside digital information kiosks, an investigation by federal, British Columbia and Alberta privacy commissioners found.
As retailers become hungrier for consumer insights and technology becomes better able to deliver those insights, retail analyst Doug Stephens says it’s unlikely that even a significant consumer backlash will stop other companies from trying similar tactics.
“The genie is kind of out of the bottle here,” said Stephens, founder of the Retail Prophet. “I don’t see this [technology] as being something that’s simply going to go away.”
Stanely, the student, likened the situation to the real estate company Cadillac Fairview’s use of similar technology in directory displays in some of its malls.
That company advanced a similar argument in its defence — that it used the technology to monitor foot traffic patterns and predict demographic information about mall visitors.
But investigators took issue with how the images were stored, and said the company did not obtain meaningful consent from customers ahead of collecting their images. Cadillac Fairview said it stopped using the technology.
Polsky, for her part, wants to see a similar investigation into the Invenda machines and stricter privacy legislation overall. She also applauded the University of Waterloo students for figuring out the software embedded in their vending machines.
“It’s terrific that people are noticing these affronts to our privacy … and not just shrugging [their] shoulders and saying ‘Not a big deal,'” she said.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Dollarama Inc.’s food aisles may have expanded far beyond sweet treats or piles of gum by the checkout counter in recent years, but its chief executive maintains his company is “not in the grocery business,” even if it’s keeping an eye on the sector.
“It’s just one small part of our store,” Neil Rossy told analysts on a Wednesday call, where he was questioned about the company’s food merchandise and rivals playing in the same space.
“We will keep an eye on all retailers — like all retailers keep an eye on us — to make sure that we’re competitive and we understand what’s out there.”
Over the last decade and as consumers have more recently sought deals, Dollarama’s food merchandise has expanded to include bread and pantry staples like cereal, rice and pasta sold at prices on par or below supermarkets.
However, the competition in the discount segment of the market Dollarama operates in intensified recently when the country’s biggest grocery chain began piloting a new ultra-discount store.
The No Name stores being tested by Loblaw Cos. Ltd. in Windsor, St. Catharines and Brockville, Ont., are billed as 20 per cent cheaper than discount retail competitors including No Frills. The grocery giant is able to offer such cost savings by relying on a smaller store footprint, fewer chilled products and a hearty range of No Name merchandise.
Though Rossy brushed off notions that his company is a supermarket challenger, grocers aren’t off his radar.
“All retailers in Canada are realistic about the fact that everyone is everyone’s competition on any given item or category,” he said.
Rossy declined to reveal how much of the chain’s sales would overlap with Loblaw or the food category, arguing the vast variety of items Dollarama sells is its strength rather than its grocery products alone.
“What makes Dollarama Dollarama is a very wide assortment of different departments that somewhat represent the old five-and-dime local convenience store,” he said.
The breadth of Dollarama’s offerings helped carry the company to a second-quarter profit of $285.9 million, up from $245.8 million in the same quarter last year as its sales rose 7.4 per cent.
The retailer said Wednesday the profit amounted to $1.02 per diluted share for the 13-week period ended July 28, up from 86 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The period the quarter covers includes the start of summer, when Rossy said the weather was “terrible.”
“The weather got slightly better towards the end of the summer and our sales certainly increased, but not enough to make up for the season’s horrible start,” he said.
Sales totalled $1.56 billion for the quarter, up from $1.46 billion in the same quarter last year.
Comparable store sales, a key metric for retailers, increased 4.7 per cent, while the average transaction was down2.2 per cent and traffic was up seven per cent, RBC analyst Irene Nattel pointed out.
She told investors in a note that the numbers reflect “solid demand as cautious consumers focus on core consumables and everyday essentials.”
Analysts have attributed such behaviour to interest rates that have been slow to drop and high prices of key consumer goods, which are weighing on household budgets.
To cope, many Canadians have spent more time seeking deals, trading down to more affordable brands and forgoing small luxuries they would treat themselves to in better economic times.
“When people feel squeezed, they tend to shy away from discretionary, focus on the basics,” Rossy said. “When people are feeling good about their wallet, they tend to be more lax about the basics and more willing to spend on discretionary.”
The current economic situation has drawn in not just the average Canadian looking to save a buck or two, but also wealthier consumers.
“When the entire economy is feeling slightly squeezed, we get more consumers who might not have to or want to shop at a Dollarama generally or who enjoy shopping at a Dollarama but have the luxury of not having to worry about the price in some other store that they happen to be standing in that has those goods,” Rossy said.
“Well, when times are tougher, they’ll consider the extra five minutes to go to the store next door.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
TORONTO – The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered TD Bank Group to pay US$28 million for repeatedly sharing inaccurate, negative information about its customers to consumer reporting companies.
The agency says TD has to pay US$7.76 million in total to tens of thousands of victims of its illegal actions, along with a US$20 million civil penalty.
It says TD shared information that contained systemic errors about credit card and bank deposit accounts to consumer reporting companies, which can include credit reports as well as screening reports for tenants and employees and other background checks.
CFPB director Rohit Chopra says in a statement that TD threatened the consumer reports of customers with fraudulent information then “barely lifted a finger to fix it,” and that regulators will need to “focus major attention” on TD Bank to change its course.
TD says in a statement it self-identified these issues and proactively worked to improve its practices, and that it is committed to delivering on its responsibilities to its customers.
The bank also faces scrutiny in the U.S. over its anti-money laundering program where it expects to pay more than US$3 billion in monetary penalties to resolve.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
