Ontario’s privacy commissioner is looking into a situation where cameras streamed live video of summer camps without getting permission first.
The cameras, run by Live Barn, were originally set up to broadcast sports events at recreation spots around Waterloo region. Their website says Live Barn offers “Live and On Demand online broadcasts of amateur & youth sports from venue locations across the United States & Canada.”
This week it came out that these livestreams stayed on while kids were taking part in summer camp activities right where the cameras could see them.
Because of this, a few summer camps in Waterloo, Cambridge and Kitchener ended up being filmed without anyone agreeing to it.
The three cities are now investigating after the livestreaming caught summer camp programs happening at places like the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex in Waterloo, Hespeler Arena, Dickson Arena and the Cambridge Sports Park in Cambridge; plus Lions Arena and Grand River Arena in Kitchener.
The Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner got told about what happened first by Waterloo city officials on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, both Kitchener and Cambridge reported it too.
“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 email statement from the privacy commissioner’s office sent to CBC.
The commissioner also mentioned that people affected don’t have to file a complaint but they can if they want to.
‘Just a scheduling mix-up’: Live Barn
In a note sent to Cambridge Chronicle, Live Barn said these were just two separate incidents.
“These two incidents were isolated and unrelated to one another,” they stated.
Live Barn confirmed knowing about what happened in Kitchener and Waterloo but didn’t say anything about Cambridge specifically.
“Our preliminary investigation indicates this appears to be the result of a scheduling error and that there was no footage downloaded or shared. In addition, the livestream was disabled immediately upon being notified and there is currently no footage available.”
They explained that each venue or local sports group manages their own streaming schedules.
“In this case, an incorrect schedule was created. With thousands of venues and diverse sports content, accidental human error can occur.. We will be looking at implementing further safeguards to prevent future issues”.
Cameras unplugged after discovery
The cities said they’re working closely with Live Barn to find out how exactly the livestream started and for how long it ran. They’ve also reported it to Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner while turning off those cameras for now.
“Upon notification of the livestream, the campers were moved out of the arena and staff unplugged the cameras to disable them,” said a press release from Waterloo. “The Live Barn cameras at all city of Waterloo arenas will remain unplugged and disabled until more information is available”.
Cambridge added they take this very seriously.
“The City of Cambridge has numerous procedures in place to protect the safety and privacy of our program participants and visitors to our facilities. We sincerely apologize for the oversight, regret that this issue has caused concern or confusion by those impacted and are committed to correcting the issue,” their press release stated.
Kitchener shared they’ve been cooperating with Kitchener Minor Hockey Association who runs that streaming platform trying to figure out how long those summer camps were caught on camera without okay from anyone involved.
During their checkup staff realized those cameras had been streaming since roughly April 14th. It’s still not clear how long streams might have gone on at other spots like Cambridge or Waterloo though.
“City summer camps in Lions And Grand River arenas were recorded And streamed,” noted Kitchener’s press release.
“We take residents’ privacy seriously here – we’re doing a full review into any third-party streaming services used inside City buildings.”
Live Barn works with over 1,900 venues across North America showing many different sports like hockey, basketball swimming soccer lacrosse etc., through paid subscriptions for watching streams live or later.
Videos only accessible by subscribers
You needed a subscription through Live Barn if you wanted access – these recreation center cams only should’ve been live during games hosted by Waterloo Minor Hockey Association though.
The city reached out already informing families whose kids attended these camps including ones held at Albert Mc Cormick Community Centre but hasn’t confirmed yet whether those specific cams streamed unauthorized video too.
“[We] recognize that camp parents may be concerned And/or frustrated with limited info right now,” explained one city news update.
“We’ll get down deeper into investigations alongside everyone involved And share more once we know more.”
Other nearby places may also be affected
An official statement online said some unscheduled streaming took place elsewhere where Live Barn setups exist beyond just local cities mentioned earlier.
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