Algorithmic policing a threat to freedoms: Citizen Lab report

The use of algorithms and surveillance technologies by police forces in Canada is a threat to fundamental Canadian freedoms, and the country's laws are not strong enough to ensure the technologies are used within constitutional "boundaries," according to a report out Tuesday from Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs. According to the report, algorithmic policing are law enforcement strategies that often rely on the "aggregation and analysis of massive volumes of data, such as personal information, communications data, biometric data, geolocation data, images, social media content, and policing data (such as statistics based on police arrests or criminal records)." The report finds that police in Vancouver and Saskatoon are using algorithms to predict where crimes will occur, who will commit them, and to surveil, while police in Calgary and Toronto have "acquired technologies that include algorithmic policing capabilities or that jurisdictions outside of Canada have leveraged to build predictive policing systems." The report contends that the data sets used in algorithmic policing are tainted by the historical and social context of systemic discrimination in policing. "Numerous inaccuracies, biases, and other sources of unreliability are present in most of the common sources of police data in Canada," the report says. "As a result, drawing unbiased and reliable inferences based on historic police data is, in all likelihood, impossible." "The Canadian legal system currently lacks sufficiently clear and robust safeguards to ensure that use of algorithmic surveillance methods—if any—occurs within constitutional boundaries and is subject to necessary regulatory, judicial, and legislative oversight mechanisms," the report argues, adding that there are no safeguards for the right to privacy, freedom of assembly, and freedom of expression governing the technologies. The report -- compiled from information gained by Access to Information requests, "informal consultations with subject matter experts, formal research interviews with a variety of expert stakeholders" -- also makes a number of recommendations. Chiefly, the Citizen Lab report recommends a moratorium on the use of the technologies, "pending completion of a comprehensive review through a judicial inquiry." In addition to the institution of mandatory algorithmic impact assessments before the deployment of the technologies, the report recommends that law enforcement and governments "engage external expertise, including from historically marginalized communities that are disproportionately impacted by the criminal justice system." The report comes after a pair of investigations by the federal Office of the Privacy Commissioner into the use of facial recognition and artificial intelligence by Canadian police forces.

Algorithmic policing a threat to freedoms: Citizen Lab report

Brief | September 1, 2020

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Algorithmic policing a threat to freedoms: Citizen Lab report

Brief | September 1, 2020

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