The fact of the matter is that facial recognition technology isn’t going away, and is likely to become less expensive and more accurate and powerful in the near future. Public opinion in Australia reveals both concerns about the invasiveness of the technology, and support of its potential use for public safety and security. Indeed, there’s been widespread public opposition to the use of the technology in some cities and states in the US, which have gone so far as to impose bans on its use. The reluctance of retail outlets and police alike to publicise their use of the technology, which has been criticised for being invasive and, in some cases, biased and inaccurate, suggests they’re not so sure the public response would be supportive. The response by authorities to public criticism of the increasing use of the technology has been to suggest, as one cybersecurity expert put it, that, “if people heard more about these tangible benefits, they might have a different attitude”. Recently, police use of the commercial face recognition app developed by Clearview AI was found by the Australian Information Commissioner to interfere with Australians’ privacy. Something similar is happening with the use of the technology by Australian police, who have been using both state and national facial recognition databases, even though the enabling legislation for use of nationwide databases remains stalled. Read more: Digital identity and biometrics: When your face reveals your vaccination status … and more The companies clearly don’t want to draw attention to their use of the technology. These databases are used to screen incoming customers by matching images of their faces to stored images in their database.Īs CHOICE discovered, the notification to customers is inadequate – small, hard-to-notice signs in some cases, and, in others, online notifications that are rarely read by customers. Thanks to an investigation by the consumer advocates at CHOICE, we recently learned major retailers in Australia are using facial recognition technology to create databases of people who have been involved in theft or disruptions in their stores. It will also amplify the asymmetry between the large amount of information being collected about us every day, and our own knowledge about how this information is being put to use. This is a powerful technology that promises to fundamentally reconfigure our experience of privacy and anonymity. The trouble with facial recognition technology in Australia is that it’s being implemented piecemeal, without dedicated regulations and guidelines governing its use.
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