Recently, Canadian gaming commissions have met with a great deal of controversy, failing to keep problem gamblers involved in self-exclusion programs out of casinos. Now, casinos across Canada are using facial recognition technology in order to aid problem gamblers in their fight to overcome their addictions.
By the end of 2011, The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation hopes to have facial recognition cameras installed in all casinos across the province. There are 15 000 problems gamblers across the province that are involved in self-exclusion programs, and the OLG hopes that facial recognition cameras will help them stay out of casinos.
The cameras will photograph every single person that enters a casino, and those who are identified as people on self-exclusion lists will be refused entry.
This has been a point of contention in other provinces, namely British Columbia. Self-excluded gamblers were allowed into casinos; they were allowed to gamble but not permitted to cash out their winnings. The OLG hopes to avoid a similar situation from happening in Ontario, and facial recognition cameras may be the solution.
