Almost exactly a year after their article on Kmart, Bunnings, and the Good Guys’ use of facial recognition technology (FRT) in stores across Australia, CHOICE has released another article on the use of FRTs in a number of major stadiums across Australia.
Facial recognition technology, a form of biometric data gathering, scans and collects data of our ‘faceprints’ which can than be used for identification purposes, and to judge and then later target various consumer behaviours. The two main critiques of the technology are with its (mis-)use in law enforcement, FRT often has difficulties distinguishing between individuals of specific races or skin tones, and the (often vague and hidden) use by private companies who can and are currently storing this data.
Given the private, personal information collected by FRTs the Australian Human Rights Commission has recommended “law reform to provide stronger, clearer and more targeted human rights protections” and “a moratorium on the use of biometric technologies… in high-risk areas of decision making”. Despite this recommendation, and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner investigations into Kmart, Bunnings, and the Good Guys sparked by the previous CHOICE article, some major Australian stadiums have continued to use facial recognition technology, collecting private information of unaware consumers and storing and using the information for unspecified time and purpose.
For more information about this issue, including some specific stadium practices, please see the CHOICE article “Facial recognition technology in use at major Australian stadiums” here.