Australian state police and crime agencies are set to use a new facial recognition system to quickly match pictures of people captured on CCTV with their driver's licence photos. Ominously named 'The Capability', the national database contains data compiled by the Department of Home Affairs - and people can't opt out, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. It will be used by New South Wales Police to rapidly match people caught on CCTV with their driver's licence, in order to "help keep the community safe" and identify those related to crimes, according to the state's Minister for Counter-Terrorism David Elliot. While the system was signed off last year, new laws must be passed to allow state agencies to release photographs and other information. A federal law allowing the database to be used for "identity or community protection activities" is currently before a parliamentary committee, but some experts have called the system intrusive. Monash University Criminal Jurisprudence Professor Liz Campbell said it breaches privacy rights by allowing the collection, storage and sharing of personal details of innocent people not yet suspected of an offence. In Wales, a similar facial recognition system incorrectly identified innocent members of the public 91 percent of the time. The Australian Capital Territory and Victoria have opposed the database, but Mr Elliot said it will be helpful in stopping serious crime. "People will not be charged for jaywalking just because their facial biometric information has been matched by law enforcement agencies," he said. "The Government will make sure that members of the public who have a driver licence are well and truly advised that this information and capability will be introduced as part of this legislation." China has recently set up a surveillance system that tracks every single one of its 1.4 billion citizens. It works as a social credit system, ranking citizens by their behaviour and doling out rewards and punishments depending on their scores. Newshub.
Counter-terrorism officials in Australia have championed using facial recognition for tackling serious crime despite privacy concerns persisting over the use technology. Police in New South Wales are set to make use of a system matching CCTV footage to driving licence information, although further regulations need to be overcome before it can be implemented. The Australian Federal Police, which is responsible for policing Australia’s borders, has been working with US authorities on an initiative called “Operation Sovereign Borders”, aimed at identifying and stopping people who enter or leave Australia by Members of the public cannot opt out from having their personal information included in the database.