CHOICE investigation into the use of facial recognition tech

Key points of the investigation include: 

• FRT, which uses cameras to collect people’s biometric information, is widely in use in venues around Australia 

• the companies operating the venues are not being transparent with the public about their use of FRT or the sensitive, biometric data they are collecting 

• these issues magnify the urgent need for law reform in this area. 

HTI Responsible Technology Policy Specialist, Lauren Perry, was quoted in the report, emphasising the risk of harms for widespread deployment of FRT upon large groups of unsuspecting Australians:  

We're talking here about semi-public places where community members, including a lot of children, gather and watch sports events and entertainment. In this context, the risks of using surveillance technologies to our civil and human rights really appear to outweigh any benefits to the sorts of security incidents you'd potentially be seeing at an event like a sporting match

 Facial Recognition Being Used At Stadiums Across Australia: The Project 

The lack of simple, up-front information provided by these venues, and inability for patrons to opt-out from being scanned by FRT, also highlight the flaws with traditional ‘conditions of entry’ notices. 

Everyday Australians really aren't going to be aware of the use of these technologies when they turn up at a venue. Any affected individual who's coming in contact with facial recognition must have the opportunity to provide or withhold free and informed consent prior to their exposure to the technology