Australia Questions Facial Recognition

NEC Neoface technology used by federal agencies and several Australian states had “a bias towards the dominant ethnic group in the area in which it

13:56 03 June 2018

NEC Neoface technology has been recently validated as the best in the industry by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology. However, the Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) warns that the technology, which is now being used by federal agencies and several Australian states, risks racial bias and would have a chilling effect on the right to freedom of assembly without further safeguards.

 

The HRLC warning has been included in a submission to a parliamentary committee inquiry that examines the Coalition’s proposal for the home affairs department to collect, use and disclose facial identification information.

 

The bill that allows the use of facial matching system was approved by states in October. However, it has since led to overreach warnings from Victoria and the Law Council of Australia. According to the HRLC, the bill was “manifestly and dangerously insufficient” and that the system was “high risk” because it does not identify or regulate the uses of facial matching technology. It added that both the false positive and false negative results for facial recognition “are likely to arise disproportionately in relation to people who belong to ethnic minorities in Australia”.