BC considers face scanners at casinos
Posted January 16, 2011 1:05 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Ontario is turning to face scanners to keep people who are addicted to gambling out of casinos. The casino cameras will scan a person’s face as soon as they walk into the building, and if that person is on a list of people who’ve banned themselves from gambling, they’ll be told to leave.
NDP Gaming Critic Shane Simpson says if BC had face scanners, no one would fall through the cracks. “There will always be privacy questions, but I know the model that is being adopted in Ontario, that the privacy commissioner there has given it the green light.”
He adds the program here doesn’t work. “People who have put themselves in the program and then gone and gambled thousands and thousands of dollars after they were in the program… it has failed miserably.”
Simpson explains the scanners could also identify gangsters attempting to launder money.
The BCLC says it is conducting a face-recognition pilot project at one BC gaming facility and it will be keeping an eye on Ontario’s program. The corporation says it already uses a licence plate recognition program at 12 BC gaming facilities to look for those who have opted out.
