Major Australian Retailers are using Facial Recognition Technology on customers

Australia’s leading consumer advocacy group has raised serious concerns about major retailers Kmart, Bunnings and The Good Guys using facial recognition technology to record customers’ faceprints.

An investigation by CHOICE has found that 76 per cent of Australians are not aware the retailers record their faces, with Kmart and Bunnings only advising customers of the security measure via small signs at entrances.

CHOICE has announced it is referring the retailers to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) to investigate potential breaches of the Privacy Act.

The advocacy group is also calling on the federal government to implement a regulatory framework that protects consumers from harmful and unfair practices.

CHOICE consumer data advocate Kate Bower has slammed the retailers using facial recognition technology on customers as “completely inappropriate and unnecessary”.

“Using facial recognition technology in this way is similar to Kmart, Bunnings or The Good Guys collecting your fingerprints or DNA every time you shop,” Bower said.

“Businesses using invasive technologies to capture their customers’ sensitive biometric information is unethical and is a sure way to erode consumer trust.”

Australia’s current ID system was also found to be “uneconomical with identity data”, with both government and the private sector collecting and retaining too much data.

Instead, the review recommends that Australia adopt a “skinny” concept of identity, whereby only a small number of attributes such as a name and date of birth, as well as a biometric identifier, are considered “core identity”.

All other attributes or information “should be treated as additional information about a person” to maximise “privacy, interoperability and portability”, the review’s authors said.

But this would rely on government agencies and businesses relying almost solely on the federal government’s facial verification system (FVS), as well as the document verification system (DVS), for identity verification.

“Facial biometrics are central to reform of the system of identity. Facial biometrics are intimately tied up with our idea of ‘skinny identity’”, the report said.

The FVS is currently available to select government agencies to conduct one-to-one photo comparisons for identity verification, but – unlike the DVS – it remains inaccessible by the private sector.

Local governments and businesses are slated to gain access to the FVS following passage of the long-delayed identity matching service bill, rejected by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security in 2019 over privacy concerns.

iTnews understands that proposed amendments to the bill, which will also see the creation of a national drivers licence facial recognition service, were referred back to the PJCIS in July 2020.

The review recommends the government “complete the FVS and make it available to the private sector” at the “earliest opportunity”, but that its use should be “contingent upon each organisation meeting standards set out in the identity code”.

Any use of facial biometrics and FVS “should require a person’s choice or consent, or be authorised by law, the review said, adding that there would need to be a “genuine alternative” for those that require it.

“This system of reliance effectively limits the amount of data collected and the number of organisations that have the data; in stark contrast to the current system in Australia,” the review said.

“The use of a biometrics also provides a much greater level of security and certainly about a person’s identity that the current reliance on a collection of documents. It also makes it easier and more convenient to check an identity at any point in the process.”