Privacy critic not sold on the benefits of new N.S. driver’s licenses
Posted Oct 13, 2017 05:55:34 AM.
Last Updated Oct 13, 2017 07:01:00 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
HALIFAX – The government is rolling out some new driver’s licenses over the next few months that will have additional security features.
But a critic says some of these features might violate your privacy.
David Fraser is a privacy lawyer with McInnes Cooper.
He tells NEWS 95.7’s the government’s announcement about the new licenses raised some flags.
“In the announcements they said you can’t wear glasses in your photos anymore, which raised the issue in my mind ‘oh, they must be using facial recognition’,” said Fraser.
When Fraser asked if they were using facial recognition, he got a one word answer – yes.
While they did not elaborate as to why, he says other provinces use facial recognition to build databases to prevent people from getting a license under someone else’s name.
He understands that point of view but he’s wondering why the government is keeping this information under wraps.
“Maybe Nova Scotians think this is peachy and this is all fine, but how can we have that discussion if government isn’t telling us the information we should have to educate ourselves about the issue.”
Fraser’s concerned with the use of facial recognition because he says this personal information can be used for other purposes.
