B.C.’s privacy commissioner has ended a probe into the use of facial recognition technology by the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) after the party confirmed it had stopped using it.
In light of this, Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael McEvoy has discontinued the investigation into whether the LPC’s use of this technology is compliant with B.C.’s Personal Information Protection Act.
He said in August 2021 that his office would be looking into the federal governing party’s use of the controversial technology for identification purposes in nomination races.
At the time, McEvoy acknowledged the party offers individuals participating in virtual nominations in B.C. an alternative “manual ID verification” option that does not involve the use of facial recognition.
He noted the manual option for participation because the “automated ID verification” method is now under investigation.
The investigation was initiated in the wake of concerns about the use of a third-party service provider for automated identification verification.
McEvoy’s office said the automated ID verification method was used to verify individuals participating in nominations in the 2021 federal election.
“The LPC confirmed that all personal information collected by this method was automatically deleted within days of collection,” the office said. “The LPC has agreed to consult with relevant regulators before considering future use of the technology.”
A decision to discontinue an investigation does not constitute a finding of the commissioner.
