August 6, 2021
Commissioner announces investigation into Liberal Party of Canada’s use of facial recognition
technology
VICTORIA— British Columbia Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael McEvoy has
launched an investigation into the Liberal Party of Canada’s use of facial recognition technology
for identification purposes in nomination races.
The Commissioner acknowledges that the Liberal Party offers individuals participating in virtual
nominations in British Columbia an alternative “manual ID verification” option that does not
involve the use of facial recognition technology. He is drawing this alternative to the attention
of individuals participating in nominations because the “automated ID verification” method is
now under investigation. (In doing so, the Commissioner is not expressing any view on the
merits of the matter, which remain to be determined.)
The investigation was initiated in the wake of concerns about the Liberal Party of Canada’s use
of a third-party service provider for automated identification verification. The investigation will
review whether the Liberal Party of Canada’s use of facial recognition is compliant with BC’s
Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA).
A final report will be published online at oipc.bc.ca upon completion of the investigation. As this
is an active investigation, no additional details are available at this time.
Source: Office of the Information & Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia