The Perceived Risks and Benefits of Facial Recognition Use by Police in Canada

• In Event: Technology, Surveillance, and Perceived Security

Abstract

As facial recognition technology (FRT) advances in its ability to identify people, police are becoming increasingly interested in using it to advance their investigations. Despite this, there is little research on how the public perceives the use of facial recognition by the police. This paper draws on data from a survey conducted with a representative sample of 1010 people in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The findings revealed that the public perceived few substantial benefits of FRT use by the police, with the exception of its ability to make it easier for police to catch criminals. Similarly, the public perceived few clear risks with the exception that FRT was open to abuse, that it violated privacy, and that it could not accurately identify faces. Many respondents also remained neutral on the topic suggesting that they have not made up their minds yet on whether FRT is a risky or beneficial technological tool in the hands of the police. OLS regressions revealed that those who held positive attitudes toward the police and were politically conservative held more favourable views of the technical abilities of FRT. Whereas, those who were younger, politically liberal, and more familiar with FRT were significantly more likely to have concerns about the risks the technology carried when used by police. We conclude the paper by discussing the implications of these findings for educating the public on the risks and benefits of FRT use by police and the challenges of, and future research that needs to occur on, public consultation/engagement on police technology use.

Authors

• Christopher OConnor, Ontario Tech University

• Andrea Slane, Ontario Tech University