Ban Federal Use of Facial Recognition Tools, Groups Urge Trudeau Government

Ban Federal Use of Facial Recognition Tools, Groups Urge Trudeau Government
Rights campaigner Silkie Carlo (L) demonstrates in front of a mobile police facial recognition facility outside a shopping centre in London, England on Feb. 11, 2020. Kelvin Chan/AP Photo
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OTTAWA—Dozens of groups and individuals working to protect privacy, human rights and civil liberties want the Trudeau government to ban the use of facial-recognition surveillance by federal law-enforcement and intelligence agencies.

In an open letter to Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, they call the technology “highly problematic,'' given its lack of accuracy and invasive nature, and say it poses a threat to Canadians’ fundamental rights.