A new CHOICE investigation has exposed Kmart, The Good Guys and Bunnings for using facial recognition technology in select stores on unsuspecting customers.
Most people don’t think twice when they enter a store they trust. And they certainly don’t expect their unique ‘faceprint’ to be collected at some of Australia’s most trusted retail stores.
76% of Australians don’t know that retailers are using facial recognition in stores. It’s crucial that we get the word out so companies know Australians won’t accept this invasive use of technology in our daily lives.
CHOICE says, “Businesses are increasingly pushing the limits of what is acceptable through their use of technology. We wouldn’t let Kmart take our fingerprints, so why should they be able to take our ‘faceprints’?
“People shouldn’t be forced to give up their sensitive data to buy a hammer from Bunnings or clothes from Kmart. As your consumer advocate, we’re asking the privacy regulator to investigate these retailers’ practices.”
CHOICE’s Kate Bower says the Privacy Act considers biometric information such as unique faceprints sensitive data, and that a higher standard is applied to it than to other types of personal information.
“It requires that your collection of that information has to be suitable for the business purpose that you’re collecting it for, and that it can’t be disproportionate to the harms involved,” she says.
“We also believe that these retail businesses are disproportionate in their over collection of this information, which means that they may be in breach of the Privacy Act. We intend to refer them to the Information Commissioner on that basis.”
Bower adds that, irrespective of whether the retailers are in breach of the Act or not, clearer and stronger regulations are needed around customer consent and how retailers obtain and use facial recognition data.