The fallout continues after it was revealed that cameras at multiple facilities around Waterloo region in southern Ontario were livestreaming children’s summer camps without permission.
The operator of the cameras, LiveBarn, said it was the result of “human error” on the part of each venue or an affiliated minor hockey league in charge of managing the streaming schedules.
“LiveBarn cameras operate on a motion-detect basis, meaning a rink operator must schedule or block off times when they are blacked out,” the company said in a statement to CBC News on Friday, adding that on-ice video is typically archived for 30 days.
The company said archived footage of the summer camps was not downloaded and shared. It said that when it found out about the issue, “the livestream was disabled immediately … and there is currently no footage available.”
LiveBarn has cameras in over 1,900 venues across North America, streaming a number of sports, including hockey, basketball, swimming, soccer and lacrosse. People subscribe to be able to watch the livestreams.
“The archived video-on-demand feature has been turned off for the recently installed cameras in Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo. These cameras will remain blacked out until the start of the hockey season,” LiveBarn said in its statement.
LiveBarn confirms unauthorized livestreaming
A LiveBarn spokesperson confirmed livestreaming cameras filmed summer camp programs at:
- The Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex in Waterloo.
- Hespeler Arena and Dickson Arena in Cambridge.
- The Lions Arena and Grand River Arena in Kitchener.
But the spokesperson said there were no issues with the livestreaming cameras at Cambridge Sports Park, another facility the City of Cambridge had identified early into its own investigation.
Cambridge Sports Park is privately owned by Buckingham Sports Properties. The facility routinely hosts city-run summer camps.
John Cook, vice-president of Buckingham Sports Properties, said the cameras were discovered to be livestreaming a summer camp on Monday. He said the cameras were turned off soon after that, at the city’s request.
The company said that for the other facilities in Kitchener and Waterloo, it was the responsibility of the minor leagues to properly manage the camera’s streaming schedules.
Privacy commissioner gathering info
The Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner was first notified of the livestreaming issue by the City of Waterloo on Wednesday. The commissioner’s office received another notification on Thursday from the cities of Kitchener and Cambridge.
“We are in the early stages of gathering information to determine next steps and cannot share additional details at this time. We can follow up with you when there are further developments,” said an emailed statement from the privacy commissioner’s office to CBC.
The commissioner said it’s not necessary for those impacted to file a complaint, but they can if they want to.
Cities respond to being blamed
The City of Waterloo says according to its contract with LiveBarn, the livestreaming company is responsible for any information recorded through the camera.
“While [the Waterloo Minor Hockey League] has access to the system to schedule the recordings for their games (and/or practices), LiveBarn is contractually responsible for the collection and use of any information recorded, displayed, streamed or televised,” said the emailed statement.
“The agreement states that LiveBarn has all responsibility for the cameras and associated equipment, including the operation and use, and signage.”
The city said it has signage at its facilities to inform visitors about the cameras.
The signage “indicates that there are cameras installed and operated by LiveBarn for online broadcast and streaming of events for Alliance Hockey, and there is a contact for LiveBarn added to the sign for questions or concerns.”
The municipality said it is working with LiveBarn and the Waterloo Minor Hockey Association to “review processes and determine what changes are required.”
The City of Cambridge said it is waiting for recommendations from the privacy commissioner’s report, and notified the office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario on Thursday.
“We have paused LiveBarn services at this time … we are looking into determining the timeline of the livestream,” the city said in a statement.
The city confirmed the cameras were set to motion-detection mode when the summer camps were unknowingly livestreamed, just as LiveBarn described.
“All streaming cameras in city facilities have been turned off for the time being,” the city said.
Cameras have also been unplugged at the affected facilities in Kitchener and Waterloo.
The city of Kitchener says it doesn’t have an agreement with LiveBarn. For the facilities located in that city, LiveBarn says its contract is directly with the Kitchener Minor Hockey Association.
CBC has reached out to the Kitchener Minor Hockey Association but has not heard back.
‘I know I would be freaked out’
Evan Light is an associate professor at the the University of Toronto’s faculty of information, and an expert in privacy and surveillance technology.
Light said he was shocked and concerned when he heard about the livestreaming incidents.
“Anything that occurred in that arena in the past three months has been livestreamed to anybody who has a subscription to the service. There’s the summer camp and then there’s whatever else might happen. There could be teenagers making out in the bleachers. They for sure don’t know and have not consented to be on the livestream.”
Krystle Shore, an assistant professor in the University of Waterloo’s department of sociology, said she wasn’t surprised to hear about what happened in Waterloo region.
“It’s not altogether unexpected because of the nature of surveillance and how difficult it can be to control where the footage goes and put meaningful safeguards in place,” she said.
“It’s absolutely concerning because there’s a real lack of consent, and trust and information in this case.”
Shore also wasn’t surprised with LiveBarn’s response about who’s responsible to ensure livestreaming isn’t done without permission.
“This highlights how tricky it can be to work with private vendors in municipal or public settings,” she said.
“Both parties have responsibility here. Municipalities are responsible for what happens in their public facilities, even when third-party vendors and and cameras are involved. But LiveBarn as a vendor also has a duty to ensure its cameras aren’t operating outside their intended purpose.”
Light said parents should ask for more transparency.
“I’m a parent too, right? I know I would be freaked out,” he said.
“Demand answers of your local politicians, of the camp operators and the venue operators responsible for it … this is an example of why … the privacy of kids needs to be taken seriously.”
