Josh Soika says he went to the Canadian Tire Store in Grant Park with his girlfriend on Oct. 8 to buy tire plugs and an air compressor for the truck he works with.

His girlfriend Courtney Settee says she noticed a security guard and two other employees staring at her from an empty driveway, which she found unusual.

We walked past him, they stopped us and told us that there was an incident last summer where I was caught stealing things on camera. They said I could buy what I had in my hands and we had to gomentions Josh Soika.

The 31-year-old Aboriginal man said he heard shop staff say The camera caught me as a shoplifter entering the store.

The couple demands an apology

Josh Soika says he’s been humiliated and wants an apology from the store.

He adds that when he asked to see footage of him stealing, a store clerk told him it wasn’t possible.

For her part, Courtney Settee notes that after the incident she called a manager who didn’t know what she was talking about and didn’t apologize.

She took pictures on her cellphone as she and Josh Soika were escorted out of the store. She says that as an Indigenous woman she is used to being profiled while shopping.

” As aboriginal people, many clerks or security guards tend to keep a closer eye on us once we’re in business. »

The couple plans to file a complaint with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission after the incident.

Does Canadian Tire use facial recognition?

Canadian Tire did not respond to repeated requests for comment over the past week.

However, in 2019, the Canadian company announced CTV NewsWinnipeg that it used facial recognition technology for loss prevention in six of its seven Winnipeg stores.

The company had not disclosed which stores used the software and whether this technology was present at its Grant Park branch.

A sign on the front door of the Winnipeg store warns customers of the presence of surveillance cameras. The poster doesn’t mention facial recognition software.

This facial recognition software is controversial due to privacy issues, misidentifications and accuracy issues, especially for people with non-white skin.

A controversial technology

Brenda McPhail, director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) privacy, technology and surveillance program, points to the weakness of these technologies.

” In many cases, it doesn’t work that well on black faces. It doesn’t work as well on native faces, nor on tan, feminine, or youthful faces. »

Ms. McPhail recalls that her organization has been calling for a moratorium on the use of this technology for some time.

Last year theACLC released a report on facial recognition technology showing that Canadian Tire has been using the technology in at least two stores since 2010.

A case study on this technology published by the British newspaper The guard in 2016 describes how Canadian Tire tried to combat theft and fraud.

The document cites a Toronto franchisee who says the technology helps the retailer catch three to five thieves a week.

Brenda McPhail says this technology, which has been used in the past by other big retailers like Rexall in Canada and Rite-Aid in the United States, raises privacy concerns.

We have to think about how we would feel if we had to give our fingerprints at the door of a shop. Is that acceptable?she wonders.

Former Ontario privacy commissioner Ann Cavoukian shares McPhail’s concerns.

She mentions that people asked her for help after being misidentified as a person of interest by a camera.

Change of federal law proposed

According to Ms. Cavoukian, Canadian privacy legislation is outdated.

There is an absolute need to improve this law and include specific concrete measures in relation to facial recognition, setting out how your name can be erased if you have been misidentified.emphasizes Ann Cavoukian.

In an Oct. 6 statement, the privacy commissioner also called on lawmakers to review the law. (New window).

I look forward to Parliament taking the next steps in its review of Bill C-27, which would update federal privacy legislation for the private sector, and hope that modernization of the law will follow soon Data Protection ActApplication for the public sectorwrites Commissioner Philippe Dufresne.

This statement follows the publication of a report (New window) which examines the impact of using facial recognition technology.

With information from Austin Grabish