Canada’s secretive and costly hidden camera scandal could be costing taxpayers $5 million a month, and that number will grow as the system is rolled out, according to a study commissioned by CBC News.
The system will cost the federal government at least $1.2 million a day, and could be paying $1 million a minute if the technology is used.
The program, which is being rolled out in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, is a test bed for a new hidden camera system that could soon be rolled out across Canada.
The hidden camera industry is booming with new technology that promises to improve privacy and make video chats and other online activities more secure.
A video chat with a hidden camera operator.
But the system isn’t being tested in Canada yet.
A hidden camera in a room.
But a new study commissioned for CBC News says the system will be used in Manitoba and Saskatchewan starting in 2021.
It says Manitoba and its rural areas could see the most dramatic benefits with the system in place.
“We’re looking at a number of different scenarios,” said Peter Schmitt, a former RCMP detective who’s now an independent consultant.
The study says Manitoba’s hidden camera technology would save taxpayers $1,100 a day by using only the camera’s real-time recording to capture conversations. “
You could also have an invisible camera in the room.”
The study says Manitoba’s hidden camera technology would save taxpayers $1,100 a day by using only the camera’s real-time recording to capture conversations.
That could be used to track the movements of suspects, like robbers and terrorists, who may be looking for a victim.
“It’s the most direct and efficient way of capturing the interaction,” said Schmitt.
“If you have to pay a lot of money to have that technology, then it should be cheaper.”
The technology could also be used for public safety by tracking someone’s movements when they’re not at home.
If the system detects someone is being followed, the operator could set up a camera to follow them around the house or park near them.
“What this shows us is that there are opportunities in this technology,” said Chris Smith, a privacy expert at the University of Ottawa.
“I think we’re going to see it more broadly across Canada in the future.”
Privacy concerns around hidden cameras are a growing concern in Canada.
An Ottawa man was charged with stealing more than $1-million from a bank while using a hidden-cam system to track his movements, and an Alberta woman was convicted of trying to steal more than a million dollars from a private business in a video chat.
The RCMP said the video-taping devices were used for only one purpose.
The cameras, which have a range of up to 40 metres, record audio from a cellphone or audio-video system.
If you can see the operator, you know you have the right person.
And if you’re not sure who the person is, they’re recording audio, Smith said.
If a suspect doesn’t show up on camera, the system won’t know who’s behind the person.
“In our experience, we’re not seeing any of these things go to court,” he said.
“They’re not being used for anything other than surveillance purposes.”
The CBC’s investigation into hidden cameras began in December when CBC News published a report that detailed how the RCMP secretly recorded people who had used a hidden device to watch people while they were out and about.
In an exclusive interview with CBC News in December, the RCMP acknowledged that its hidden-cameras program is “a tool to track and identify people in a safe and secure environment.”
But in an email, spokesperson Kristy Campbell-Lane wrote that the program has been deployed in the past in “very specific circumstances,” such as when an arrest has been made or an arrest is imminent.
“The RCMP is proud of its role in supporting and developing the use of these technologies in the public interest,” she said.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said in an emailed statement that the RCMP is in discussions with private industry to test the technology.
“A pilot program is currently underway in Manitoba where the RCMP has deployed the use and monitoring of hidden cameras in a rural area,” it said.
CBC News has obtained a copy of the hidden-chamber program, and is working to independently verify the results.
In a blog post on the CBC website, Schmitt said the system, called Amasty Invisible Cam, is not meant to be used as a means of capturing people, but rather as a “safe place” where law enforcement officers can monitor the activity of others.
“It’s not just the people that have the capability to watch, it’s the people who are not in the area at that time,” Schmitt wrote.
“So the question becomes, what are the implications of
