An Ontario university is removing dozens of vending machines that were tracking customers’ age and gender, in the latest example of a backlash against technology that tests the limits of privacy rules.
The move came amid opposition from students at the University of Waterloo, who learned of the technology through Reddit users. I found an error message on the screen Earlier this month, one of the machines reported an apparent issue with its facial recognition program.
“The obvious question is, ‘Why is there a facial recognition app? Why is this error even there?'” said the fourth-year computer science and business student, who reported the story in the campus journal mathNEWS. River Stanley said. .
The university said it had asked all 29 machines made by Swiss-based company Invenda to be removed “as soon as possible” and the software disabled in the meantime.
“We would like to thank the student for bringing this matter to our attention,” said university spokeswoman Rebecca Elming.
The university did not respond to follow-up questions from CBC News about whether it plans to change its procurement processes if machines equipped with facial analysis technology appear without administrators’ knowledge.
Invendor says the machine uses facial analysis rather than facial recognition software, and no data or photos are stored.
According to the company, its technology is primarily used to notify when a person stands in front of a vending machine and to switch the screen from “standby” mode, which displays advertisements, to “sale” mode, which displays a variety of products. It is said to be used.
Critics say there is not enough explanation and that customers should know if they are being monitored and be given the option to opt-in.
“There was no [camera] These vending machines are not marked at all,” Stanley said.
Stanley investigated further, contacted vending machine operators and vendors, and published an article that was later picked up. CTV Kitchener.
The company says about 100 Invenda vending machines have been shipped to Canada, but it’s unclear whether all have been installed.
An Invenda spokesperson said no one was available for an interview Monday, but the company emphasized in an email that its software is used for person detection and facial analysis, not facial recognition. did.
“While people detection simply identifies the presence of an individual, facial recognition goes further to identify and locate an individual,” the statement said.
The machine is capable of “determining only whether and for how long an anonymous individual is facing a device, indistinguishably approximating basic demographic attributes.”
The company said these “fundamental demographic attributes” include age and gender. This information could help retailers determine which products are most likely to sell, one privacy advocate said.
“There’s no point in putting products in vending machines that won’t sell, won’t take up space, and will only get old and cost money to throw away,” said Sharon Polsky, president of the Privacy and Access Council of Canada. Ta. Based in Calgary.
“From a business perspective, it makes perfect sense.”
Cadillac Fairview, a real estate company that operates some of Canada’s largest shopping malls, violated the privacy of shoppers by collecting five million images from cameras in digital information kiosks without their consent, an investigation has revealed. This was revealed in an investigation by the federal, British Columbia, and Alberta privacy commissioners.
As retailers seek consumer insights and technology can now provide them, retail analyst Doug Stevens believes that even if there is significant consumer pushback, It says it is unlikely to deter other companies from trying similar strategies.
“It’s like the genie is out of the bottle here,” said Stevens, founder of Retail Prophet. “I can’t see this [technology] As something that simply disappears. ”
The student, Stanley, likened the situation to real estate company Cadillac Fairview’s use of similar technology in some mall directory displays.
The company made similar claims in its defense, claiming it used its technology to monitor foot traffic patterns and predict demographic information about mall visitors.
a Joint investigation by federal, Alberta and British Columbia privacy commissioners It was found in 2020 that Cadillac Fairview collected “numeric representations” of faces suitable for facial recognition, but there was no evidence that these representations were used to identify specific people.
But law enforcement officials questioned how the images were stored, saying the company did not obtain meaningful consent from customers before collecting images. Cadillac Fairview announced that it has discontinued use of this technology.
Polsky would like to see similar scrutiny of Invenda machines and stricter privacy laws overall. She also praised the University of Waterloo students who figured out the software built into the vending machines.
“It’s great that people are aware of these insults to our privacy…and don’t just shrug it off. [their] “I put my arm around my shoulders and said, ‘It’s no big deal,'” she said.
