Torontonians are split on the use of facial recognition technology, according to a new poll that shows strong support for its crime-solving potential alongside concerns about the tool’s misuse.

Toronto police have been using the technology — which relies upon artificial intelligence to identify a person in a digital image — for about a year after the system was purchased in March 2018 for $450,000. In that time, police have run more than 2,500 facial recognition searches. Recently released details about the technology’s use have prompted privacy concerns, including a call by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association for a moratorium on the tool, which the group called “carding by algorithm.”

In a random sampling of more than 1100 Torontonians this week, 41 per cent said they oppose police use of facial recognition technology, while 36 per cent say they support its use. Nearly a quarter were unsure.

The poll, conducted by Forum Research and released Thursday, found virtually the same results when respondents were asked if they trusted police with the tool: 41 per cent said they do not trust police to use the technology appropriately, while 35 per cent said they did and 24 per cent were unsure.

Those most likely to distrust police use of facial recognition technology were those aged 34 or younger and respondents who were the least wealthy.

More than half also expressed worry about a possible personal impact: 51 per cent said they were concerned the technology could impact their privacy, with nearly half of those saying they were very concerned. Forty-four per cent of overall respondents said they were not concerned.

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However, the poll said nearly half of Torontonians see the potential of facial recognition: 47 per cent those polled say they believe the technology will have a positive effect on police services’ ability to solve crime.

Toronto police have said they are only using the tool to compare images of potential suspects captured on public or private cameras to its internal database of approximately 1.5 million mugshots.

Police have stressed that they do not use real-time facial recognition — such as scanning faces in crowds or at large protests — and have no legal authorization to do so.

In a report to the Toronto police board last month, police chief Mark Saunders said that since officers began using the tool last month, “many” investigations were solved, “including four homicides, multiple sexual assaults, a large number of armed robberies and numerous shooting and gang related crimes,” Saunders wrote.

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The technology, which relies on artificial intelligence, has generated privacy and civil liberty concerns in several jurisdictions, including in San Francisco. Last month, privacy concerns prompted the city to become the first in the U.S. to ban the tool.

The Forum poll was conducted between June 8 and June 9 using an interactive voice response telephone survey polling 1,157 Toronto voters. The polling firm considers their results accurate within three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

With files from Kate Allen