I'm going to go on a rant because I keep seeing the same misconceptions reported about Canada's COVID Alert app.
Constantly framing the story around privacy concerns only begets privacy concerns. The app *does not* share with the government, or anyone, a user's name, location or health information. COVID Alert asks users what province they're in but you can even select "PREFER NOT TO SAY."
Let's stop saying "the app is not effective because only X percent of people have it." Oxford researchers found "digital exposure notification can effectively reduce infections, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 at AT ALL LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION." medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
The only measure available to gauge the success of Canada's COVID Alert app is the number of downloads: 1.9 million. Beyond that, its effectiveness is practically unknowable. **This does not mean you shouldn't download it.** [thread] cbc.ca/news/technolog…
It's unknown how many users have reported a positive test through the app, or how many others have received an exposure notification. The only metric that's ~knowable~ is how many one-time codes have been issued so positive tests can be reported. Ontario isn't disclosing that.
By contrast, Germany releases weekly updates not only on the number of coronavirus app downloads (16.9M), but on the number of codes issued for positive test reporting (1,320). There too, it's unknown how many of those codes are actually inputted for exposure notifications.
Clearview AI, the facial recognition tech firm, has confirmed my face is in their database. I sent them a headshot and they replied with these pictures, along with links to where they got the pics, including a site called "Insta Stalker."
Hoan Ton-That, Clearview AI's CEO, told me in an email Canadians may request to see their data held in the firm's facial recognition database, or may "opt out," but, unlike Californians and Europeans, he did not say Canadians could get the images deleted. cbc.ca/news/technolog…
Ontario Privacy Commissionner Brian Beamish said Clearview should give residents the option to have their data deleted, especially since "Clearview obtained people's images without their consent." He's learned of 15 Ontario police agencies that previously used facial recognition.
Calgary is still the only major city where all frontline officers wear them.
Vancouver PD told us "police in Canada have not experienced the same level of public demand for body-worn video" than in the U.S. (1/4) cbc.ca/news/canada/po…
Toronto police started looking into it more than 5 yrs ago. Now Chief Mark Saunders wants bodycams deployed by September. But there are reasons to question whether that's realistic. They haven't chosen a vendor yet and wouldn't provide @Madeline_McNair with a shortlist. 2/4
In the case of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, who fell to her death during a police intervention, the family's lawyer, Knia Singh, said "there is absolutely no doubt or question that it would have been beneficial for Toronto police officers to have been equipped with body cameras." 3/4
New reporting on NS gunman's fake RCMP car and real uniform @CBCTheNational:
It may have been easy to replicate the cruiser decals. Gov't of Canada posts specs online for outfitting RCMP vehicles (with more detail than this) to put decal contracts out for tender (@lisamayor) 1/4
It's also not hard to buy police car accessories if you know where to look... like this lot of police-style car roof lights sold at a public auction in NS in March. 2/4
RCMP say gunman wore real uniform during rampage, but it's unclear where it came from. What we know from Public Accounts of Canada: there were 9 instances of RCMP uniforms/equipment stolen and another 241 instances of uniforms/equipment accidentally lost in 2019 (thx @LizT1) 3/4
Federal and B.C. privacy watchdogs have just released a report into Victoria-based firm AggregateIQ, which worked for the Brexit "Vote Leave" campaign, among others. Report says AIQ "often fell short" of privacy laws. More to come...
Working for Vote Leave and U.S. campaigns, the privacy watchdogs say AIQ did not restrict its use of personal data to the way users had consented.
The B.C. and federal privacy commissioners have ordered AIQ to increase its data protection measures and they say the firm has agreed. The commissioners will verify any steps taken in 6 months.