OTTAWA—British Columbia’s privacy watchdog has launched an investigation into the federal Liberal party’s use of facial recognition technology to pick candidates for the next election. B.C. information and privacy commissioner Michael McEvoy’s office ended weeks of speculation on Friday by announcing the investigation in response to concerns from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. “The investigation was initiated in the wake of concerns about the Liberal Party of Canada’s use of a third−party service provider for automated identification verification,” McEvoy’s office said in a statement. “The investigation will review whether the Liberal Party of Canada’s use of facial recognition is compliant with BC’s Personal Information Protection Act.” The Liberals have been using face recognition technology from American−based firm Jumio to verify the identity of those eligible to vote in meetings to nominate candidates who will run for the party in the next federal campaign, which could start as early as this …