The Ottawa Police Services Board recently approved Phase 1 of its plan to implement new facial recognition software. The move follows similar directions from other police forces – headlined by Peel, York, and Halton. It’s not implemented in Ottawa as of yet, but public consultation is expected to centre around ‘when’, not ‘if’, the program goes ahead. In recent weeks, privacy and civil liberty advocates and experts in criminal justice have raised a slew of concerns surrounding the technology’s usage and safeguards. Andrew Pinsent digs deeper with Tamir Israel on today’s edition of CFRA Weekends. Tamir heads the Privacy, Surveillance, and Technology Program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

<p>The Ottawa Police Services Board recently approved Phase 1 of its plan to implement new facial recognition software. The move follows similar directions from other police forces &ndash; headlined by Peel, York, and Halton. It&rsquo;s not implemented in Ottawa as of yet, but public consultation is expected to centre around &lsquo;when&rsquo;, not &lsquo;if&rsquo;, the program goes ahead. In recent weeks, privacy and civil liberty advocates and experts in criminal justice have raised a slew of concerns surrounding the technology&rsquo;s usage and safeguards. Andrew Pinsent digs deeper with Tamir Israel on today&rsquo;s edition of CFRA Weekends. Tamir heads the Privacy, Surveillance, and Technology Program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.</p>