dated April 5 that Facedrive Inc., which has since rebranded as Steer Technologies Inc., issued contradictory and misleading news releases about the capabilities and readiness of the technology, known as TraceSCAN. The company also failed to correct information about the anticipated release of certain features after it was clear the timeline was inaccurate, according to the OSC.
The contact-tracing bracelets were also pushed by the Laborers’ International Union of North America , which partnered with the company on a pilot project for the TraceSCAN app in August, 2020. Victoria Mancinelli, LiUNA’s director of public relations, said on Thursday that the union did not invest in the company.
The OSC alleges that between April, 2020, and January, 2021, the company issued several news releases that “created confusion or a misleading impression” about TraceSCAN. Some announcements suggested TraceSCAN was a consumer-ready product, when in fact the company had only developed a prototype, according to the OSC.