TPL and McMaster University’s Master of Public Policy in Digital Society present: Predict + Surveil: Data, Discretion, and the Future of Policing

While some have called for a moratorium on facial recognition technology in Canada, some say the technology is necessary to detect and punish criminal activity online. Clearview AI has claimed to have ceased offering its services in Canada, and has apparently indefinitely suspended its contract with the RCMP.

Given that policing is often used as a rationale for surveillance, we will explore  collaborations between public law enforcement, private data brokers and technology companies with author and scholar Sarah Brayne, author of Predict + Surveil: Data, Discretion, and the Future of Policing,  in order to reconcile our appeal to data and information with the punitive inequalities it creates.

And to provide a local lens on the subject we are joined by Dr. Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto, whose work examines the intersections of race, crime and criminal justice, with a particular focus in the area of policing.

Dr.Sarah Brayne
Dr Akwasi Owusu-Bempah
Vass Bednar

The Big Data and Tech in Our Backyards series explores how technology trends and Big Tech companies are reshaping our increasingly digital society.

Hosted by Vass Bednar, Executive Director of the Master of Public Policy Program at McMaster University, this monthly series invites authors, journalists and tech workers to take on complex, topical issues related to data collection and product marketing and apply them to a Canadian context.

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Watching, Listening, and Learning: Feeding the Marketing Algorithms

Toronto Public Library is committed to accessibility. Please call or email us if you are Deaf or have a disability and would like to request accommodation to participate in this program. Please let us know as far in advance as possible and we will do our best to meet your request. At least three weeks notice is preferred. Phone 416-393-7099 or email accessibleservices@tpl.ca