Safeguarding Identity in the Age of AI: The Case for Face and Voice Copyrighting in Canada
- Tinashe Manolo
- Aug 4
- 2 min read
Executive Summary
As artificial intelligence (AI) advances, the replication and manipulation of human likenesses—particularly faces and voices—has escalated, creating a legal and ethical vacuum in Canada. Currently, Canada lacks specific copyright legislation that gives individuals enforceable control over their biometric data. This paper argues for a new legal category: face and voice copyrighting. Without it, public trust, cultural agency, and personal safety are increasingly at risk.
Provinces like Ontario and British Columbia are ideal to pilot such protections given their dense media industries and AI innovation hubs. This article lays out the rationale, risks, and recommendations for making biometric identity protection a Canadian legal priority.
1. The Problem: Synthetic Identity Theft
The digitization of human likenesses through generative AI has enabled a new kind of identity theft: unauthorized synthetic replication. Deepfakes, voice clones, and AI-generated avatars are now tools for misinformation, fraud, and reputational damage.
Stats:
Ontario & BC account for over 70% of Canada’s film/TV production (CMPA, 2023)
62% of Canadian deepfake incidents occurred in these provinces (CBC, 2024)
Canada’s Copyright Act and privacy laws such as PIPEDA fail to address these emergent threats. A proactive legal regime is overdue.
2. Global Momentum: What Other Countries Are Doing
California (AB 602, 2019) bans malicious deepfakes in elections.
EU’s AI Act (2023) labels biometric manipulation as high-risk.
China’s Civil Code gives individuals control over their commercial likeness.
These precedents offer models, but Canada’s current system still lacks copyright protections for one's own biometric identity—faces and voices are not considered intellectual property unless embedded in a creative work.
Download the White paper to find out more about the Risks and Opportunities TEI is looking to bring enough to build enough
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