Alberta’s information and privacy commissioner has launched an investigation into a liquor store company’s pilot project that requires government-ID scans before patrons can enter some of its stores.
“The investigation will determine whether the use of this technology is compliant with the Personal Information Protection Act, Alberta’s private sector privacy law,” the privacy commissioner’s office said in a news release Thursday.
Critics have denounced the pilot project as a major encroachment on the public’s privacy rights.
On Monday, liquor retailer Alcanna announced it is testing the new security program, in partnership with Edmonton police, to combat what both police and the provincial government have confirmed is a dramatic escalation in liquor store robberies over the past year.
At a news conference, Alcanna CEO James Burns said the company that developed the scanning system, Patronscan, has “been working with privacy offices in Alberta, Canada, across North America, to make sure this is all privacy compliant with both laws and norms of society.”
But as CBC News first reported Wednesday, a spokesperson for commissioner Jill Clayton called that statement “misleading” and said the commissioner was strongly considering launching an investigation.
“There has been no consultation with our office on this project,” Scott Sibbald wrote, adding the commissioner’s office first heard of the project through media reports.
There is no set timeline for Clayton’s investigation.