Users were not asked for permission to have their faces scanned or analyzed. (Representative photo)
A Canadian university will remove a fleet of smart vending machines from its campuses following concerns that facial recognition technology is being used covertly.according to guardian, a controversy unfolded when a student took a photo of a snack dispenser with the error message Invenda.Vending.FacialRecognition.App.exe displayed on the screen. There was no prior indication that the machines were using this technology or that the cameras were monitoring students’ movements or purchases. Users were also not asked for permission to have their faces scanned or analyzed.
According to the paper, University of Waterloo student River Stanley, who reported on the discovery in the university’s newspaper, said: “If it wasn’t for the mistake in the application, we wouldn’t have known. There’s no warning here. ” he said.
However, Invenda, the company that makes the machine, defended the technology. It claimed that the technology complies with European Union privacy standards. Notably, the company touts the use of “demographic detection software,” which it says can determine a customer’s gender and age. It is unclear whether the use of the technology meets Canadian privacy standards.
Separately, Adaria Vending Services’ director of technical services defended the technology, saying, “Mechanical technology cannot be used to identify individuals.”
“The most important thing to understand is that machines do not take or store photos or images, and machine technology cannot be used to identify individuals,” the statement said. . “The technology works as a motion sensor that detects faces, so the machine knows when to activate the purchase interface and does not take or save an image of the customer,” it added.
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Meanwhile, the University of Waterloo pledged in a statement to remove the Invenda machine “as soon as possible.” He also said he had already “requested that the software be disabled.”
Meanwhile, students at the University of Ontario responded by covering the hole they thought the camera was in with gum and paper.
Meanwhile, in April, a similar case found national retailer Canadian Tire in breach of privacy laws in British Columbia for using facial recognition technology without notifying customers. At the time, the government’s Privacy Commissioner said the company had failed to demonstrate a reasonable purpose for collecting facial information, even if the store had a permit.