Telus Health app using facial recognition runs afoul of Alberta privacy commissioner

Telus Health’s Babylon healthcare app violated Alberta’s health information and personal information laws, according to two reports by the independent legislature officer overseeing privacy protection and information access in the province. These findings may prompt Alberta privacy commissioner Jill Clayton to ask Alberta Health to reconsider funding services provided by Babylon’s 14 doctors if Telus Health does not comply fully with the province’s privacy laws, CBC News reported. The telecommunications company has asserted that it is in compliance with global privacy standards. "That is not very helpful," Clayton told CBC News. "I'm not interested in compliance with global privacy standards. I'm interested in compliance with Alberta's legislation." Responding to complaints from users, Clayton launched two investigations last year, one for the province’s Health Information Act and another focusing on the Personal Information Protection Act. Her investigations found Babylon did not comply with several key parts of both acts. Clayton pointed out in her reports that Telus Health collected unnecessary personal information, including photos, and used facial recognition technology without patients’ knowledge or explicit consent. Telus Health was also sharing personal health information with third-party service providers in other countries, including the U.S. and Ireland. Clayton said these practices were not spelled out clearly in Telus Health’s privacy policy. "It is not transparent," she said. "It is not clear about what information is being collected, for what purpose, nor about what information may be going to countries outside of Canada." The list of compliance breaches by the doctors who work for Babylon also include a failure to file a privacy impact assessment, as required by provincial law, before the app was launched in Alberta. "Overall, there is no indication that the [Babylon] physicians are even aware of or bound to the global and local policies provided to [the commissioner] by Babylon," the HIA report stated. The Health Information Act report noted that Babylon required potential patients to upload a selfie and government photo ID, which the company retains to verify their identities. In the HIA report, Clayton found Telus Health did not need to collect the photos and was troubled by the company's use of facial recognition technology. She also refuted Telus Health’s claim that fraud is more prevalent in virtual healthcare, and that this was the reason why the company needed to request personal information to verify users’ identities. "I think what we have here is an example of an app that was developed in another jurisdiction and was dropped into Alberta without due regard for Alberta's legislation," Clayton said. Babylon was launched in March in partnership with the Alberta government, and its virtual physician services are covered under the province’s healthcare insurance. Health Minister Tyler Shandro declined an interview request from CBC News. In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for the health minister referred to the second report, which looked at the complaints through the lens of the Personal Information Protection Act and concluded that “overall [the app] collects, uses and discloses personal information for reasonable purposes and to a reasonable extent," within the bounds of the act. Clayton however, pointed out that PIPA, which regulates companies, has a lower privacy standard than the HIA. While Telus Health has made some changes, to date it has not implemented several recommendations from the report. The company also declined an interview request from CBC News. In an emailed statement, the company insisted it "meets or exceeds all privacy requirements set out in Alberta's legislation, including the matters raised by the recent report from Alberta's Office of the Privacy Commissioner."

Telus Health app using facial recognition runs afoul of Alberta privacy commissioner

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