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Reviews launched after 3 Edmonton police officers use Clearview AI facial recognition software

Original source: https://globalnews.ca/news/6609703/edmonton-police-clearview-ai-facial-recognition-software/

Local snapshot (archived 2026-07-03): full-page PDF committed at sources/news/_archive/globalnews-clearview-ai-3-officers/globalnews-clearview-ai-3-officers.pdf.

Posted February 28, 2020.

What happened

  • Three investigators from a specialized investigation unit used Clearview AI. Supt. Warren Driechel described them as "fairly senior" officers.
  • Officers learned of the tool at an eastern-Canada conference in 2019; signed themselves up.
  • Used in "limited capacity" on one auto-theft investigation.
  • EPS only discovered the unauthorized use after the Clearview AI client-list data breach — not through internal controls.

Key admissions / quotes

  • Driechel: "Based on that understanding, we believe no one's privacy has been compromised."
  • Driechel on the oversight gap: members "can go there, they can sign up... and there's very little organizational oversight."
  • Chief Dale McFee directed members to cease further use of the unapproved technology and initiated an internal review.

Reviews launched

  • Internal EPS review of facial-recognition technology usage and policy.
  • Alberta's Information and Privacy Commissioner opened an investigation into EPS compliance with public-sector privacy law. The Commissioner later stated EPS "was previously not forthcoming about its use of Clearview AI" and that the use surfaced "only after a data breach affected Clearview AI's client list."

Cost

  • None disclosed (officers signed up individually; Clearview offered free trials at the time).