IPC Privacy Day Webcast: Law Enforcement and Surveillance Technologies

January 27, 2021, 7pm - 7pm

IPC Privacy Day Webcast

Law Enforcement and Surveillance Technologies

January 28, 2021, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.

Free to Register

Law enforcement agencies are increasingly turning to surveillance technologies to perform policing functions and achieve operational efficiencies. Examples of these technologies include body-worn cameras, automated licence plate recognition, facial recognition and other artificial intelligence and biometric based technologies. While these technologies can aid law enforcement, they can also have a significant negative impact on privacy and other fundamental rights if not used with appropriate governance frameworks in place.

Please join us on January 28, at 9:30 a.m., when Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner, Patricia Kosseim, will host a Privacy Day discussion on the promise and perils of surveillance technologies in law enforcement. The event is free and open to all.

Key issues to be discussed include:

Designing and integrating rules that protect personal information, and provide for effective oversight and control mechanisms
Principles of necessity, transparency, and accountability when engaging in technology-assisted policing
Growing public demand for police accountability and changing attitudes towards police use of technology
The need to ensure that law enforcement use of technologies is effective in achieving its objectives and respects human rights and civil liberties

The morning’s agenda:

9:30 a.m. – Welcome and introductory remarks by IPC Commissioner, Patricia Kosseim

9:35 a.m. – Overview of emerging surveillance technologies by law enforcement, Chris Parsons, Senior Research Associate, Citizen Lab

10:00 a.m. – Panel Discussion moderated by the Commissioner

Raj Dhir, Executive Director/Chief Legal Officer, Ontario Human Rights Commission
Colin Freeze, Reporter, Globe and Mail
Stephen McCammon, Legal Counsel, Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario
Chris Parsons, Senior Research Associate, Citizen Lab
Alana Saulnier, Criminology Program Coordinator and professor, Lakehead University
Colin Stairs, Chief Information Officer, Toronto Police Service

11:00 a.m. – Audience Q&A moderated by the Commissioner

11:20 a.m. – Summary by Ron Kruzeniski, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Saskatchewan

11:25 a.m. – Concluding remarks by IPC Assistant Commissioner, Sherry Liang

11:30 a.m. – Event ends

Watch: Privacy Day Webcast – Law Enforcement and Surveillance Technologies