Calgary's Chinook Centre and Market Mall — operated by Cadillac Fairview — have been caught running background software that analysed the footage from the CCTVs in the malls' electronic directories to guess at the age and gender of visitors, without consent or notification. The discovery was made when a visitor to Chinook Centre spotted a glitched-out electronic mall directory that was displaying a window with the output from the facial recognition software. Sharon Polsky with the Privacy and Access Council of Canada said the general public would likely be shocked if they realized they were being surveilled with facial recognition technology. "The people are not notified. They're not given an opportunity to opt in, much less opt out," Polsky said. She said the most businesses usually do is post a sign saying a facility is under CCTV surveillance, but few go as far as spelling out to consumers what surveillance actually is taking place or undertake privacy impact assessments. "There's no way to verify the alleged purpose, and they [could] start using it for other purposes. From a civil liberties perspective, from a privacy perspective, from the perspective of being able to exercise our rights, it's a huge concern," Polsky said. At least two malls are using facial recognition technology to track shoppers' ages and genders without telling [Sarah Rieger/CBC] (via /.)<doc-sep>The privacy commissioners of Alberta and Canada are launching investigations into the use of facial recognition technology, without the public's consent, in at least two malls in Calgary. A notice posted Friday to the Alberta privacy commissioner website says the investigation will look to determine, "what types of personal information are being collected, whether consent for collection or notice of collection is required or would be recommended, for what purposes personal information is collected, whether the data is being shared with other businesses, law enforcement or third parties, and what safeguards or security measures are in place to protect personal information." A similar notice was also posted to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada website on Friday. "The investigation was initiated by commissioner Daniel Therrien in the wake of numerous media reports that have raised questions and concerns about whether the company is collecting and using personal information without consent," it reads. A visitor to Chinook Centre in south Calgary spotted a browser window that had seemingly been left open by accident on one of the mall's directories, exposing facial-recognition software that was running in the background of the digital map. They took a photo and posted it to the social networking site Reddit. The owner of the mall, Cadillac Fairview, said the software was also running in Calgary's Market Mall and others across Canada, one of which is Polo Park in Winnipeg. Alberta's privacy commissioner, Jill Clayton, opened the investigation based on the level of public interest, said spokesman Scott Sibbald. Complaint received A public complaint was received by the privacy commissioner's office on Friday, said Sibbald, "outlining general concerns with the use of facial recognition without consent at Calgary malls operated by Cadillac Fairview." "Anyone with concerns that their information was collected without consent may submit a privacy complaint to our office," he said. Tobi Cohen, a spokesperson for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, earlier said they would be in touch with the Alberta privacy commissioner about concerns over the practice. "Generally speaking, our office has identified facial recognition as having the potential to be the most highly invasive of the current popular biometric identifying technologies," she said by email. "Faces have been transformed into electronic information that can be aggregated, analyzed and categorized in unprecedented ways." A statement said the provincial and federal privacy offices will co-operate with each other. Statement from company The company earlier declined an interview but sent an emailed statement that said the cameras in the mall directories are used to better understand traffic flow and they "do not record or store any photo or video content." "In June, we began testing software that tries to predict approximate age and gender to further understand the usage of our directories, and with this still no video or photo feed is recorded or stored," wrote Janine Ramparas, the director of corporate communications for Cadillac Fairview. "But to clarify, the software that predicts age/gender was being tested, we have not rolled it out." ​With files from Anis Heydari and Elizabeth Snaddon.<doc-sep>When I'm in Calgary, there's a coffee shop that I like to work at, located in the Chinook Centre Mall. It's part of a local chain that knows how to make a great iced latte. I'm not in often, but they know me. They know my face. Apparently, they're not the only ones. According to the CBC, the management company that tends to Chinook Center Mall, Cadillac Fairview, has been using facial recognition software to track the sex and age of visitors on the down low. From The CBC: A visitor to Chinook Centre in south Calgary spotted a browser window that had seemingly accidentally been left open on one of the mall's directories, exposing facial-recognition software that was running in the background of the digital map. They took a photo and posted it to the social networking site Reddit on Tuesday. The mall's parent company, Cadillac Fairview, said the software, which they began using in June, counts people who use the directory and predicts their approximate age and gender, but does not record or store any photos or video from the directory cameras. Cadillac Fairview said the software is also used at Market Mall in northwest Calgary, and other malls nationwide. In Alberta, collecting biometric data, so long as no images are recorded and stored, is allowed, without having to let anyone know that you're doing it. That's frigging greasy. For their part, Cadillac Fairview says that they aren't required to let visitors to their property know that they're being profiled, as the software they use, MappedIn, doesn't store any photos or biometric information. But here's the thing: we're already watched on cameras when we enter most malls. If you're like many people, you connect to mall-sponsored wi-fi while you're shopping (please use a VPN while doing so, for your own good). When you start combining the information gleaned from these things and combine it with what Cadillac Fairview, and most likely, other building management companies would like you to believe is innocuous data collection, it's possible to begin building a relatively comprehensive profile on an individual wandering a mall, based on their location according to their wi-fi connection, camera data, and whatever facial recognition suite they might be running. Will this data be used by the property management to provide a better shopping experience? Sure. Is there a guarantee that the data won't be sold to other interests in the name of profit? Absolutely not. It's another fine example of technology outpacing the laws designed to keep our private lives, private. Image: by Abyssus – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link<doc-sep>Mall directories provide information to shoppers. But at Calgary's Chinook Centre mall, shoppers are discovering that sometimes they collect information as well. New information kiosks in Chinook Centre are equipped with unmarked cameras that are connected to facial recognition software, installed to monitor visitor demographics. The software was exposed after a user posted an image to social news aggregator Reddit of a browser window that appears to have been accidentally left open on one of the mall's digital directories. The photo shows a program loading files that include the phrases "videoanalytics\FaceAnalyzer\," "age/inception," and "gender/inception." Though facial recognition software is nothing new for law enforcement and airport applications, many shoppers were shocked to find that it made its way to retail. “I think it’s unethical,” shopper Erin Steel told CTV Calgary. “If you’re going to be recording my face and trying to identify who I am then I should be made aware of that.” Representatives from Cadillac Fairview, Chinook Centre's parent company, declined CTV Calgary's request for an interview, but released a statement regarding the directories. "The cameras in our digital directories are there to provide traffic analysis to help us understand usage patterns and continuously create a better shopper experience," the statement reads. "These cameras do not record or store any photo or video content." They also say that as of June this year, they began testing software that attempts to predict the approximate age and gender of users, but again stressed that no video content is recorded or stored. They declined to disclose any other Cadillac Fairview locations where the program may be in place. Sharon Polsky of the Privacy and Access Council of Canada says that information collection of this sort has been going on for a long time, but few people realize it because companies don't put up proper notices. “Although we do have privacy and access laws in Canada, they were mostly written around in the time when fax machines were being developed and they haven’t kept up," Polsky said. "The laws have not been updated so they’re now fairly ineffective.” While Alberta's privacy commissioner says no complaints have been filed about the digital directories, they are monitoring the situation. With files from CTV Calgary's Brenna Rose and Ryan White<doc-sep>
If you’re lost in Calgary’s Chinook Centre and decide to check in at the shopping mall’s directory to find your way to your favourite shop, be aware that the directory could be getting information from you in return. Chinook Centre is one of two shopping malls in Calgary using facial recognition software which is hidden in the mall directories, according to Chinook parent company Cadillac Fairview (CF). The second is Market Mall. News of the software came to light after a shopper saw a window on a directory at the Chinook Centre that showed what appeared to be facial-recognition data, including codes like “gender/inception” and “age/inception.” The shopper posted a photo of the window on Reddit, which sparked a wide-ranging discussion about the privacy of the mall’s customers along with issues to do with consent. Story continues below advertisement The software features a camera that sits behind the digital directories, CF spokesperson Janine Ramparas said in an emailed statement on Thursday. It’s meant to “provide traffic analysis to help us understand usage patterns and continuously create a better shopper experience.” Ramparas said the cameras don’t record or store any of the information they record, therefore CF doesn’t need consent to gather your data while you’re getting your bearings. “The directory unit contains software that counts people using the directory via the camera,” she said. “In June, we began testing software that tries to predict approximate age and gender to further understand the usage of our directories, and with this, still no video or photo feed is recorded or stored.” Ramparas wouldn’t say how the approximate ages of shoppers are estimated or speak to how exactly the data is used to enhance the shopping experience at the mall. CF would not confirm whether the facial recognition technology was used in malls outside the city. For Brenda McPhail with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the fact the data isn’t stored isn’t really enough to justify not getting customers’ consent. Story continues below advertisement “I think any time a surveillance technology is used on people without telling them about it or giving them an opportunity to consent, it raises questions of privacy rights and civil liberties,” she said in an interview with Global News. McPhail said it’s also troublesome that the mall seems to have come up with its own definition of what constitutes an invasion of privacy. She also expressed concern over the facial recognition technology being hidden in the directory rather than made public knowledge and therefore open to public analysis “My understanding of the Alberta Personal Information Protection Act is that consent is not just required for collection of personal information but also for its use.” CF operates several shopping centres and other developments like condos and office towers across Canada including in Toronto and Montreal. — With files from Spencer Gallichan-Lowe