Let’s unpack the rise of facial recognition technology in Canadian policing—how it works, where it’s being used, and why public consultation matters more than ever. Andrea Slane and Chris O’Connor, researchers from Ontario Tech University, explore their project on the real-world impacts of this technology following the Clearview AI scandal. They get into questions of oversight, bias, public trust, and the urgent need for policy to keep pace with innovation. From the streets of Cobourg, Ontario to the halls of Parliament, this episode examines how communities are (and aren’t) being invited into conversations about how technology is shaping policing policy in Canada.
Guests for this episode:
Christopher D. O’Connor is an Associate Professor in the Criminology and Justice program at Ontario Tech University. His primary research areas include policing, youth participation in crime, rapid growth communities, and emerging/disruptive technologies. He has researched public perceptions of a range of issues including crime, disruptive technologies, and attitudes toward the police. More recently, his research has examined police data quality and collection techniques, auxiliary police, and the use of facial recognition technology by the police.
Andrea Slane is a Professor in the Legal Studies program at Ontario Tech University. Her research focuses on privacy, data protection, and the variety of legal regimes that protect people from both individual and commercial wrongdoing online, over digital devices and via smart technologies. She uses a range of methods including doctrinal legal analysis, qualitative data collection and analysis, and cultural studies to contribute to determining more just means to regulate the flow of personal and community level information, whether between individuals; individuals and businesses; businesses and government; business to business; or to the public.
Links to Research:
Andrea Slane, “Privacy Protective Roadblocks and Speedbumps Restraining Law Enforcement Use of Facial Recognition Software in Canada” (2021) 69:2 Criminal Law Quarterly 216-236. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4275241
Christopher O’Connor, Andrea Slane, Dallas Bouckley (Hill) and Victoria Baker, “Public Perceptions of Facial Recognition Use by Police in Canada” (2025) Policing and Society, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2025.2508192
Dallas Hill, Christopher O’Connor, and Andrea Slane, “Police Use of Facial Recognition Technology: The Potential for Engaging the Public through Co-Constructed Policy-Making” (2022) 24:3 International Journal of Police Science and Management, 325-335, https://doi.org/10.1177/14613557221089558.
Bradford, B., et al., 2020. Live facial recognition: trust and legitimacy as predictors of public support for police use of new technology. The British journal of criminology, 60 (6), 1502–1522. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azaa032
Bragias, A., Hine, K., and Fleet, R., 2021. Only in our best interest, right?’ Public perceptions of police use of facial recognition technology. Police practice and research, 22 (6), 1637–1654. https://doi.org/10.1080/15614263.2021.1942873
This episode was funded, in part, by Venture13 Policetech Accelerator