We know our community of shoppers and clients have questions about the company’s use of cameras and technology within mall directories. We are also aware that there are a lot of misconceptions about what was done, and we believe that it is important for our customers to understand how technology was used in the past within our digital directories, and to help answer questions they may have about our approach to privacy.

In 2018, we conducted a pilot program using cameras inside our digital directories. Our purpose in doing so was to assess the number of people visiting our malls by counting the people who walked by the directories. We also attempted to learn about general demographics of our visitors as the technology within the cameras assigned approximate age and gender information to those who walk in front of the camera.

All of this was done anonymously. At no time did we store images of our shoppers, nor did we ever create or maintain any database of faces from shoppers.  

Here are some questions you may have:

Did CF collect images of shoppers?

No. Here is how the technology worked: As people walked in front of the camera, their faces were assigned a series of anonymous numbers which would help us determine the approximate age and gender of people visiting our malls. This process takes milliseconds. We did not retain or store the shopper’s image.

Was CF using facial recognition software?

No, we were not conducting facial recognition. The technology was never used to recognize faces or identify individuals who were shopping in our malls. The technology was only used to anonymously determine approximate age and gender of people visiting our malls.

Does CF have a photo of me in a database?

No. At no time did we retain or store images of our customers. We do not have a database of images collected from our shoppers.

Are the cameras still installed?

No. All cameras were removed in August 2018. None of our Cadillac Fairview properties have cameras installed in our digital directories.

Do you intend to use facial detection software in the future?

We have no plans to use facial detection or facial recognition software in the future.

Why won’t you agree to opt-in consent if you do decide to use facial recognition software in the future?

We have no plans to use this technology in the future. We will always ensure that any technology used in our properties is fully compliant with applicable Canadian privacy laws.

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about cameras and digital directories. We take the concerns of our visitors very seriously. If you have further questions on our approach to privacy, please click here.