(Quebec) The government accuses the opposition of “sowing confusion” on the facial recognition technological project at the Société d’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ).
The Liberal Party is calling for a parliamentary commission because it is concerned about risks to privacy and hacking.
The Commission for Access to Information (CAI) is also calling for a public debate on the issue of facial recognition using the same technology and the Minister of Cybersecurity and Digital Affairs, Éric Caire, says he is open to a debate on the use of biometrics, but we are “far from being there” in this use in the Quebec state, according to him.
He specified that the technology used will be used strictly to “clean up” the SAAQ photo bank, eliminate duplicates, avoid fraud, and not for facial recognition, while the CAI already has all the powers to authorize and supervise the project.
This SAAQ project was stopped less than a year ago by the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, but it has been resurrected, according to what was revealed The Quebec Journal Tuesday.
The interim Liberal leader, Marc Tanguay, suggested that he did not trust Mr. Caire, any more than the SAAQ, responsible for the SAAQclic “fiasco”
“Two at-fault drivers with bad records: the Société d’assurance automobile du Québec and Éric Caire,” quipped Mr. Tanguay in a press scrum on Tuesday morning.
“I fell out of my chair, they want to move forward, the SAAQ and Éric Caire, hand in hand, just imagine. Are you reassured at home? »
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
The Minister of Cybersecurity and Digital Affairs, Éric Caire
It doesn’t just concern a “photo bank cleaning”, added his colleague MP Michelle Setlakwe. Such a digital identification system could be used to access a range of government services, she explained, and Quebecers must therefore be reassured.
“Their confidence has been eroded, in the context of the SAAQclic fiasco, so we must be extremely careful to avoid another fiasco. »
Mr. Caire argues that the authorization requested by the SAAQ from the CAI only concerns the management of the photo bank.
“It stops there,” he assured in the press scrum.
“This technology raises very important issues regarding the protection of personal information, privacy and information security,” said Mr.me Setlakwe during the question period.
“This technology will be used, first of all, to untangle the photo bank within SAAQ, but we know that it is the gateway to the Quebec digital identity system and that it can be used in different government platforms. »
Mr. Caire recalled that under the law, no one can have a biometric data bank without, 60 days before its use, notifying the CAI. The body can then investigate, issue recommendations and orders.
“If the use made of the biometric bank is not that for which the CAI has given its authorization, it may require suspension, it may require the prohibition of use and it may even require destruction” , concluded the minister.