once again extended its ban on loitering<\/a> in Metro stations. The move-along order, which requires people in the network to be actively travelling, remains in effect until April 30, 2027. <\/p>\nSome argue this AI use ‘goes too far’<\/p>\n
S\u00e9bastien Gambs, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Privacy-Friendly Analysis and Ethics of Big Data and is a computer science professor at the Universit\u00e9 du\u00a0Qu\u00e9bec\u00a0\u00e0\u00a0Montr\u00e9al (UQAM), believes there should be more transparency around the project.<\/p>\n
He says that includes signs warning people as they enter the affected stations “that beyond the classic surveillance cameras, a new system is being tested.”<\/p>\n
Gambs also raised the possibility of facial data being collected from thousands of passengers every day without their consent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The STM tells CBC that \u201cno facial recognition is performed,\u201d and the system is \u201cnot linked to a database that could identify individuals.\u201d It says data is transmitted only on STM servers, and video recordings are “deleted after five to 10 days.”<\/p>\n
That isn\u2019t enough to reassure Gambs, who remains concerned about potential privacy and security issues surrounding this type of data system.\u00a0<\/p>\n
WATCH | STM says it wants to make its operations more efficient:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788571090_945_default.jpg\")
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STM testing AI to flag people lingering at some Metro stations near closing time<\/p>\n
Montreal\u2019s public transit authority says the AI system is meant to detect human shapes captured by its surveillance cameras and flag them to special constables, who can then escort people out. The STM says the system will start being tested at five Metro stations in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n
The Ligue des droits et libert\u00e9s (LDL)\u00a0has expressed reservations about the technology as well. The Quebec human rights group believes that using AI to detect loiterers in the Metro “goes too far.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s to stop the software from being used at times other than closing hours simply to expel homeless people from the Metro?\u201d asked Dominique Peschard, a member of the LDL\u2019s Committee on Population Surveillance, Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights.<\/p>\n
He added that this sort of system could also lead to discriminatory targeting based on \u201cthe way people dress, move around and look.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last month, the STM paid Lipslogics roughly $100,000 to support the completion of its proof of concept through October. After that, if the STM decides to move forward with the AI solution, it says \u201ccommunications will be deployed\u201d in the stations where it\u2019s being used.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not the first time the city\u2019s transit authority has turned to AI. In 2024, the STM partnered with researchers from the Center for Suicide Intervention (CRISE) to develop an artificial intelligence system as part of the public transit authority’s suicide prevention strategy.<\/p>\n
As part of that project, closed circuit television feeds from the Metro were scanned by AI to try and identify warning signs that a person may be in distress; the aim was to then use that knowledge to quickly deploy preventive safety responses. <\/p>\n
The STM is also currently examining the possibility of using a chatbot to respond to customers’ trip requests, and says it\u2019s open to exploring other avenues that allow their service to be more efficient and cost-effective.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur efforts in this regard will always be conducted with consideration,” said Martel-Th\u00e9or\u00eat, “and measures taken to mitigate risks related to privacy and cybersecurity.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":883698,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[62,276,277,49,48,61],"class_list":["post-883697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=883697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/883698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=883697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=883697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=883697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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