Privacy in Public: A conversation about surveillance & facial recognition technology in public spaces
Join Tech Law McGill for a timely conversation on facial recognition and its significance for privacy in public spaces with Tamir Israel and Lex Gill, BCL/LLB'17, experts in the area of surveillance, human rights, and emerging technologies.
This conversation will take a distinctly Canadian and legal approach to the question: what does it mean to have privacy in public? From facial recognition at the border, to surveillance drones at protests, to the collection and sale of social media data by companies like Clearview AI, privacy in public spaces is threatened by the use of powerful (and often biased) technologies by law enforcement and private organizations.
Technologies like face recognition blur the digital/physical divide as surveillance is superimposed on our daily strolls, international travels, in-store shopping, and other quotidian experiences. The discussion will canvass recent legal and social developments in the Canadian context, and offer insights into what comes next in the fight for privacy in public.
For security reasons, kindly RSVP at forms.gle/FcGJ2pnFNDDJnGag6. The Zoom link will be sent to registrants 24 hours before the event.
Do you have questions you want the speakers to address? Message Tech Law McGill through their Facebook chat!
About the speakers
Tamir Israel leads work on privacy, net neutrality, electronic surveillance, and telecommunications regulation activities at UOttawa’s Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic. Tamir's research interests include intermediary liability, national security and cybersecurity, and technology policy issues raised by trade agreements. He has participated in a range of technology law and policy-making processes including appearances before parliamentary committees, participation in regulatory proceedings, interventions in appellate courts, and participation in various Internet governance processes. Most recently, he published a report that recommended for a moratorium on the adoption of facial recognition systems at our borders, and a publicly transparent reassessment of existing systems in Canada.
Me Lex Gill, BCL/LLB'17, is a Montreal-based lawyer working towards economic, social, and environmental justice—who has a special place in her heart for law that feels like science fiction. Before starting her public interest litigation practice at Trudel Johnston & Lesperance, Lex clerked for the Right Honourable Chief Justice Richard Wagner at the Supreme Court of Canada. In addition, she is a fellow at the Citizen Lab, where she supports the organization’s research on freedom of expression and privacy. She has published extensively at the intersection of emerging technology and civil liberties, including several reports on the use of artificial intelligence tools at the Canadian border, the encryption debate in Canada, and international submissions to the United Nations on technology-facilitated violence.
