Facial recognition software may help nab Vancouver rioters
05 July, 2011
category: Biometrics, Government
As the outrage over the rioting in Vancouver after game seven of the Stanley Cup continues, facial recognition software may help catch the culprits.
The New Brunswick Business Journal reports that the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) has offered the Vancouver police department the use of its database and facial recognition software to help identify the rioters.
The ICBC database, provided by L-1 Identity Solutions, contains more than 3 million photos of current and past holders of British Columbia driver’s licenses and government IDs. ICBC says it can take photos from the event and run them through the database to find matches. ICBC will then inform police if there are confirmed matches and claims it will not release any personal information to the police without a court order.
Although ICBC has used its database for identity theft and fraud cases around licenses and IDs, this would be the first time the database would be used for purposes outside the realm of the database’s original scope, an issue that alarms privacy experts.
Read more here.