Facial Recognition

The Rotorua woman wrongly identified by a supermarket facial recognition system says ethnicity was a ‘huge factor’. Her case shows why human-centered design is needed to avoid misuse, bias and harm.

State surveillance of citizens is growing all over the world, but it is a fact of daily life in China. People are developing mental tactics to distance themselves from it.

Loss of privacy is just the beginning. Workers are worried about biased AI and the need to perform the ‘right’ expressions and body language for the algorithms.

Our facial information is sensitive – yet companies and individuals can collect, sell and manipulate it without our consent. Australian law must change to protect us all.

Police use of surveillance technologies — like security cameras and artificial intelligence — is becoming more widespread. Measures are needed to protect people’s privacy and avoid misidentification.

Face recognition technology follows earlier biometric surveillance techniques, including fingerprints, passport photos and iris scans. It’s the first that can be done without the subject’s knowledge.

2024 will see a massive expansion in Australia’s digital ID system. Good tech and strong guardrails will make Australia a world leader in this important area.

There are many programs where people can generate art using AI. However, this comes with a risk of non-Indigenous people generating Indigenous art, which negatively affects Indigenous artists.

Key to diagnosing foetal alcohol syndrome is an assessment of certain facial features. A 3D facial scan is expensive but 2D images may offer a solution.

Research suggests that photo ID checks at polling stations risk voters being turned away because of errors.

Preventing theft on farms is much more difficult than in urban areas for many reasons – but new technological developments may help curb the crimes.

Civil liberties groups in the UK and elsewhere want to stop the police from using this technology altogether, but that’s going too far.

Many AI algorithms, like facial recognition software, have been shown to be discriminatory to people of color, especially those who are Black.

As states and nations struggle to regulate growing AI use, municipal authorities are often leading the way. An emerging paradigm known as AI Localism can help us better define the way forward.

Facial recognition technology has set us on a path to mass surveillance – but it’s not too late to change course.

In the pursuit of efficiency, governments turn to technological solutions, like automated decision-making systems. But these systems are often problematic.

Our research shows the technology simply isn’t ready yet.

It’s increasingly difficult to move about – both in the physical world and online – without being tracked.

Australians – and Australian governments – need to get more savvy about data privacy

Private companies and public authorities are beginning to implement facial recognition technology, even without rules to govern what they can do.

A digest of the week’s coverage of the war against Ukraine.

Australia’s consumer advocacy group Choice identified three Australian retailers who use facial recognition to identify consumers. What are the privacy concerns?

Lawmakers around the world are making decisions about whether facial recognition technology is acceptable.

The technology is currently being trialled outside of Australia. It’s one of the first major attempts to bring it to western markets on a large scale.

We rely on the spatial arrangement of facial features to process faces, and wearing masks interferes with that — especially for children.