SYDNEY, Sept. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report from
the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Human Technology
Institute outlines a model law for facial recognition technology to
protect against harmful use of this technology, but also foster
innovation for public benefit.
Australian law was not drafted with widespread use of facial
recognition in mind. Led by UTS Industry Professors Edward Santow and Nicholas Davis, the report recommends reform to
modernise Australian law, especially to address threats to privacy
and other human rights.
Facial recognition and other remote biometric technologies have
grown exponentially in recent years, raising concerns about
privacy, mass surveillance and unfairness experienced, especially
by people of colour and women, when the technology makes
mistakes.
In June 2022, an investigation by
consumer advocacy group CHOICE revealed that several large
Australian retailers were using facial recognition to identify
customers entering their stores, leading to considerable community
alarm and calls for improved regulation. There have also been
widespread calls for reform of facial recognition law – in
Australia and internationally.
This new report responds to those calls. It recognises that our
faces are special, in the sense that humans rely heavily on each
other's faces to identify and interact. This reliance leaves us
particularly vulnerable to human rights restrictions when this
technology is misused or overused.
"When facial recognition applications are designed and regulated
well, there can be real benefits, helping to identify people
efficiently and at scale. The technology is widely used by people
who are blind or have a vision impairment, making the world more
accessible for those groups," said Professor Santow, the former
Australian Human Rights Commissioner and now Co-Director of the
Human Technology Institute.
"This report proposes a risk-based model law for facial
recognition. The starting point should be to ensure that facial
recognition is developed and used in ways that uphold people's
basic human rights," he said.
"The gaps in our current law have created a kind of regulatory
market failure. Many respected companies have pulled back from
offering facial recognition because consumers aren't properly
protected. Those companies still offering in this area are not
required to focus on the basic rights of people affected by this
tech," said Professor Davis, a former member of the executive
committee at the World Economic Forum in Geneva and Co-Director of the Human Technology
Institute.
"Many civil society organisations, government and
inter-governmental bodies and independent experts have sounded the
alarm about dangers associated with current and predicted uses of
facial recognition," he said.
This report calls on Australian Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus to lead a national facial
recognition reform process. This should start by introducing a bill
into the Australian Parliament based on the model law set out in
the report.
The report also recommends assigning regulatory responsibility
to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner to
regulate the development and use of this technology in the federal
jurisdiction, with a harmonised approach in state and territory
jurisdictions.
The model law sets out three levels of risk to human rights for
individuals affected by the use of a particular facial recognition
technology application, as well as risks to the broader
community.
Under the model law, anyone who develops or deploys facial
recognition technology must first assess the level of human rights
risk that would apply to their application. That assessment can
then be challenged by members of the public and the
regulator.
Based on the risk assessment, the model law then sets out a
cumulative set of legal requirements, restrictions and
prohibitions.
The report, Facial Recognition Technology: towards a model
law, has been co-authored by Prof Nicholas Davis, Prof Edward Santow, and Lauren Perry of the Human Technology Institute,
UTS.
To access the report, and additional background material,
visit https://www.uts.edu.au/human-technology-institute/explore-our-work/facial-recognition-technology-towards-model-law.
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