IPSSAObserve
Map institutions, technologies, contracts, policies, decisions, deployments, and public records.
Independent public-interest research · Canada
Who watches the institutions that watch us?
IPSSA studies surveillance, data power, policing, artificial intelligence, procurement, and accountability across Canada’s public sector.
Police surveillanceAI & biometricsProcurementData sharingCourtsPublic records
01 · Mandate
Make public power observable.
Public institutions increasingly make consequential decisions through databases, algorithms, surveillance systems, private vendors, and information-sharing networks that are difficult for the public to see.
IPSSA maps those systems, measures their effects, preserves the public record, and builds independent research capable of surviving institutional scrutiny.
Operating model
Observe. Measure. Intervene.
02 · Research programs
From isolated incidents to system-level evidence.
Surveillance Observatory
Track technologies used by police, municipalities, corrections, border agencies, and public bodies.
Police Accountability
Study complaints, discipline, judicial findings, disclosure failures, and institutional responses.
AI & Biometrics
Document facial recognition, automated analysis, body-camera AI, and algorithmic decisions.
Procurement & Vendors
Follow contracts, pilots, sole-source purchases, vendor relationships, and public data.
Institutional Accountability
Examine the chain from police and regulators through Crown decisions, courts, oversight, and appeals.
Access to Information
Build reusable public-record strategies, disclosure maps, repositories, and transparency research.
03 · Public-Sector Surveillance Observatory
A public map of systems, institutions, and power.
The Observatory is being structured to connect Canadian institutions with the technologies they acquire, the vendors that supply them, the authority claimed for their use, and the records available to the public.
InstitutionWho operates or procures it?
TechnologyWhat capability is being introduced?
VendorWho supplies and services it?
AuthorityWhat policy or law permits its use?
DataWhat is collected, retained, and shared?
OversightWho can inspect or challenge it?
Interface preview · No findings or deployment claims are represented here.
Surveillance Technology Registry
Built to be searched, compared, and challenged.
ALPRFacial recognitionCCTVAI video analyticsBody camerasDronesBiometricsCell-site technologyData brokersPredictive systemsDigital identityLocation trackingSocial monitoringAutomated decisions
Follow the procurement trail
Contracts, pilots, sole-source purchases, renewals, cloud infrastructure, data-sharing agreements, parent companies, acquisitions, and public clients.
Prepare for relationships
The data architecture will support filters, geographic views, institutional profiles, timelines, and a future vendor network graph.
Accountability chain
Where does responsibility break?
Incident↓Police↓Investigation↓Crown↓Court↓Oversight↓Appeal
The research follows decisions across institutions instead of treating each failure as an isolated endpoint.
04 · Method
Every conclusion has a trail back to evidence.
Provenance
Source records stay connected to every material claim.
Status
Allegations, findings, appeals, reversals, and unresolved matters remain distinct.
Corrections
Errors can be challenged, reviewed, documented, and corrected transparently.
Comparability
Common schemas make institutions measurable over time.
Independence
Methodology stays separate from advocacy and editorial judgment.
Public record
Research is anchored in primary documents and reproducible data.
04 · Projects
Research infrastructure in development.
Canadian Surveillance Technology Registry
A structured record of technologies, institutions, vendors, deployments, authority, and public documentation.
Architecture stageCanadian Surveillance Procurement Database
Contracts, pilots, renewals, recurring costs, vendor relationships, and public-private infrastructure.
Architecture stageAccess-to-Information Performance Index
A comparable view of delays, fees, exemptions, retention, missing records, and access outcomes.
Method designPolice Accountability Systems Study
Complaints, findings, disclosure, discipline, oversight, appeals, and institutional response.
Method design05 · Publications
Research built for citation and reuse.
ReportsBriefsDatasetsWorking papersObservatory updatesSubmissionsMethodology notesResearch projects
No publication theatre.
Titles will appear when work is ready, with authors, abstracts, citations, source data, methodology, revision history, and downloadable formats.
06 · Governance & transparency
The institution should be observable too.
Research independence
Methods and findings remain distinguishable from advocacy, journalism, and political campaigning.
Corrections
A visible process will receive challenges, document review, and preserve revision history.
Conflicts of interest
Relevant institutional, financial, and contributor interests will be disclosed.
Funding disclosure
Funding source, amount, year, purpose, restrictions, and affected research will be published.
Funding does not determine research findings.08 · About
Research for the public record.
IPSSA works alongside PoliceData.ca and Accountability, two independent media-co-op projects.
We share public records, research, and expertise where useful. Each organization publishes under its own name, methods, and responsibility.