Privacy concerns are mounting in Canada after the discovery of an AI-powered police surveillance camera in Montreal, a device capable of identifying both vehicles and people. The find has fuelled fears that the technology could be abused.
The uses of such systems range from simply recording video to facial recognition and the collection of biometric data. Beyond reading licence plate data, the camera looks at a vehicle more broadly, capturing details such as its colour, its direction of travel and its speed of travel.
A Radio-Canada reporter spotted the camera mounted on a light post on a Montreal street this week. It has since been removed, with police saying the step was taken to preserve their ongoing investigative strategies. A police spokesperson said the device had been used for a specific investigation and denied that it was used for identification.
The camera is part of a broader network of AI use by Montreal police. The department confirmed that it is also running an AI program that helps investigators quickly search through massive amounts of video, with the ability to analyse any type of footage. The software's developer said the tool was not created to identify bad behaviour, but rather to increase the accuracy of investigations.
The revelations have raised pointed questions from those worried about civil liberties: why the technology is being used, who is using it, what it is being used for, and how people's rights are being protected. Observers describe it as the classic trade-off of public safety against privacy rights, warning that with such powerful tools, oversight is very important.
The debate echoes similar pushback in the United States against the technology provider Flock Security. There, critics have raised concerns about data being collected on people not suspected of any wrongdoing, and have expressed anger over cases in which officers ran searches for personal reasons.
The practice extends well beyond Montreal. When CBC reached out to eight other police departments, not all of them responded, but Vancouver reported that it uses licence plate recognition. In Calgary, real-time AI language translation programs on body-worn cameras are helping officers communicate with members of the public.