IB Digital Society · Operation Get a 7 · Case File 01

WHO OWNS
YOUR FACE?

A real-world inquiry into facial recognition, privacy, policing, Power and Values & Ethics. This page gives you the case and the inquiry tools — not the answers.

What are you being tested on?

Can you move from a real case → research → stakeholder perspectives → concepts → evidence → a defended judgement?

01Read
0–6 min
Understand the case
02Decode command
6–10 min
What does “to what extent” demand?
03Research tech
10–18 min
You find out how it works
04Stakeholders + concepts
18–30 min
Who? Power? Ethics?
05Plan + write
30–46 min
8-mark response
06Self-audit
46–50 min
Band + next target

Read the real-world case

MAIN ARTICLE · FEBRUARY 19, 2026

Clearview AI loses B.C. appeal over facial-recognition privacy findings

Read this first. Identify the disagreement, the court decision, and one detail that could become evidence in your final response.

READ MAIN ARTICLE ↗
OFFICIAL RESEARCH SOURCE

Privacy Commissioner investigation

Use this if useful, but do not simply copy its explanation. Your job is to investigate and explain the technology in your own words.

OPEN SOURCE ↗
OFFICIAL STAKEHOLDER SOURCE

RCMP / privacy statement

Use this as one perspective if it helps your inquiry. You must still decide who the stakeholders are.

OPEN SOURCE ↗

Before you answer: decode the command term

Your question begins with TO WHAT EXTENT. Do not assume you know what that means.

1 · OPEN
Open the official IB Digital Society Guide.
2 · FIND
Locate the Glossary of command terms.
3 · TRANSLATE
Rewrite “To what extent” in your own words.
4 · APPLY
Write 3–4 things your answer must do because of that command term.

OPEN OFFICIAL IB DIGITAL SOCIETY GUIDE ↗

You must research how the technology works

No mechanism is provided here on purpose. “AI scans a face” is not enough. Your job is to research the digital process and explain it in 4–6 clear steps.
PROMPT 1
What happens to an image before a system can compare a face?
PROMPT 2
What is biometric data, a facial template, or an embedding?
PROMPT 3
How does one face get compared with a database of other faces?
PROMPT 4
What does a “match” mean — and where could uncertainty or error enter?
Evidence requirement: record your exact search phrase, source title, organization/author, URL, date, why the source is credible, and one possible limitation or perspective of the source.

Stakeholders: understand the idea, then identify them yourself

What is a stakeholder?
A stakeholder is a person, group, organization, or institution that is affected by a digital system/decision or can influence what happens.

Example unrelated to this case: In a food-delivery app, a delivery driver is a stakeholder because the platform can affect the jobs they receive, their ratings, and their income.
YOUR TASK
Identify at least THREE specific stakeholders in the Clearview / facial-recognition case.
FOR EACH ONE
Explain: How are they affected? What do they want, gain, risk, or control?

Concept resources: use the lens, don’t just name it

POWER

Power helps you investigate who can influence or control others, how power is embedded in organizations/governments, and whether power is distributed unequally.

  • Who can decide?
  • Who can collect or identify?
  • Who can refuse?
  • Who can challenge an error?
  • Who can regulate whom?
Read the official Power section in the IB Digital Society Guide.
OPEN GUIDE ↗

VALUES & ETHICS

Values & Ethics helps you examine distinctions such as fair/unfair, just/unjust, legal/illegal, proper/improper, and how values shape conduct, policies, rules, and laws.

  • What is fair?
  • What requires consent?
  • Who is accountable?
  • Is the response proportionate?
  • Can something be legal but still ethically troubling?
Read the official Values & Ethics section in the IB Digital Society Guide.
OPEN GUIDE ↗

Your Paper 1-style 8-mark question

To what extent should Canadian law-enforcement agencies be permitted to use facial-recognition systems built from images collected from the public internet?

Do your research and planning in the Google Doc template. Your final response must answer the exact question and follow what the command term requires.

How to structure your one-page response

Aim for about one page of focused writing. This is not a strict word count; roughly 350–450 words is a useful target if typed. Your answer should read like a short argument — not a list of worksheet responses.

PARAGRAPH 1 · POSITION + CONTEXT
  • Answer the question immediately.
  • Name the Clearview / Canadian law-enforcement context.
  • Identify the key tension.
  • End with a provisional or conditional thesis.
PARAGRAPH 2 · STRONGEST ARGUMENT
  • Make one clear claim.
  • Use specific case/research evidence.
  • Connect it to a stakeholder.
  • Use Power or Values & Ethics to deepen the analysis.
  • Explain why the evidence matters.
PARAGRAPH 3 · COUNTER-ARGUMENT + WEIGHING
  • Give the strongest reasonable opposing argument.
  • Anchor it in a stakeholder perspective.
  • Support it with evidence.
  • Compare the competing concerns.
  • Decide which should carry more weight and why.
PARAGRAPH 4 · JUDGEMENT
  • Return directly to “To what extent.”
  • Make a clear supported judgement.
  • State conditions, safeguards, limits, or circumstances.
  • Do not simply repeat your introduction.
USEFUL CHECK: CLAIM → EVIDENCE → EXPLANATION → STAKEHOLDER / CONCEPT → WEIGH → LINK BACK TO THE QUESTION

Official 8-mark band — use this after writing

BandBest-fit description
7–8Focused and in-depth; evaluation and synthesis are consistently supported with relevant and accurate knowledge; well structured and effectively organized.
5–6Adequate understanding; effective analysis supported by relevant and accurate knowledge; adequately organized.
3–4Some understanding and some analysis, but it is not always sustained/effective; only partly organized.
1–2Limited understanding; mostly descriptive or unsupported generalizations; limited organization.
0Does not reach the standard described above.