Within two years, the Federal government will implement a facial recognition system for all 25 million Canadian passport holders. This was reported by Blacklock’s Reporter. The government would build a huge database with the faces of millions of Canadians. In a notice titled Facial Recognition Solution, the IRCC said that “the department must have facial recognition system support capabilities in place no later than October 2023.” The cost of the program was not detailed. Canadian citizens who apply for passports will automatically consent to have their personal photos stored in a federal database: “Applicants consent to their photos being used to confirm identity through the passport program’s facial recognition system.” The program is rationalized on the basis of preventing identity fraud, despite little proof that identity fraud is an issue.
