Hamilton police say it is reviewing drone policy, engaging with Ontario privacy commissioner
Canadian Civil Liberties Association joins call for Hamilton police to halt drone use
Hamilton Police Service (HPS) says it is reviewing its policy on drones and is "currently engaged" with Ontario's privacy commissioner to "ensure" it is meeting the best privacy practices.
HPS told CBC Hamilton about the review on Wednesday afternoon after the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) issued a statement, demanding the police service "immediately suspend" its drone program.
"HPS' drone program has operated without consultation with the public, the Ontario Privacy Commissioner's office, or the marginalized communities that stand to suffer the most from increased aerial surveillance," said Daniel Konikoff, CCLA interim director of privacy, technology and surveillance in the statement, issued June 6.
CCLA said its call to suspend the program follows reports that HPS was requesting an expansion of its drone use.
Latest call to halt program comes after CBC investigation
The office of Ontario's privacy commissioner told CBC Hamilton Thursday it initiated contact with HPS and "will be meeting with them to discuss their drone program and its proposed expansion."
It also said it hasn't opened a formal investigation into drone program and also has not received any complaints about HPS drones.
A CBC Hamilton investigation published in April revealed details about when, how and why police use drones. It prompted privacy researchers to point out "red flags" in the program, including a lack of transparency and gaps in its privacy impact assessment.
A privacy impact assessment is a document outlining a voluntary process that looks at how the technology may impact people's privacy and is in compliance with privacy laws.
Ontario's former privacy commissioner grilled the program and said if she was still in charge, she'd launch a province-wide investigation and ask the police service to halt its program.
Ontario's New Democrats and local community groups also called for a public consultation.
Police should consider alternatives: CCLA
The CCLA had previously criticized the drone program, but this week was the first time it called for it to be halted.
In its statement, in addition to highlighting the fact HPS did not do enough consultation when it launched the drone program in 2021, the CCLA said the PIA also had gaps in its scope.
"Notably, the privacy impact assessment doesn't prevent the arming of drones with weapons or facial recognition software, leaving the technology open to abuse and misuse," read the statement.
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See Hamilton police's privacy impact assessment at the bottom of this story
Konikoff told CBC Hamilton the police service should consider replacing drones with alternatives like laser scanners and mapping software.
He also said police should not use drones at public gatherings and protests.
Privacy and policing researchers previously noted another option could be continuing to use drones, but only restricting them to collision reconstruction and search and rescue.
Hamilton police has defended the use of drones and asked to expand the program in a recent board meeting.
HPS has said numerous other agencies in Canada and globally have drones.
Other Ontario police services like those in Brantford and Niagara have programs and didn't take the extra step that HPS did of conducting a privacy impact assessment.
HPS has also said drones help officers, particularly when it comes to looking for missing people and reconstructing car crashes.
HPS changes language on website about drones
The service has also changed the language on its website about the drone program — a webpage that was supposed to be created when the drone program debuted but didn't go online until two years later after questions from CBC Hamilton.
From March 31 until now, the HPS website said the service's privacy impact assessment on drones was "in compliance" with the privacy commissioner.
On June 7, the website no longer said the assessment was in compliance, but that HPS used guidelines outlined by the privacy commissioner.
HPS did not provide further detail Wednesday on its review of the drone policy or what engagement with the privacy commissioner involved.
However, the office of the commissioner said Thursday, that "consultations or meetings with our office do not validate or certify that an organization is acting in compliance with Ontario's access and privacy laws. They can, however, identify privacy and transparency risks associated with a policy or program and help lower those risks."
WATCH | Police across Canada use drones. Here's why that's raising privacy concerns:
Konikoff said there's not enough evidence to justify the program, let alone an expansion.
"Just because other police departments have increased drone capabilities doesn't mean we should take drones as a given," he said.
"If [the] technology is needed, police should be asking themselves, 'what is the least invasive tool for the job?'"
He also said there should be tighter regulations to have police departments consult experts before implementing technology like drones.
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