Food for thought: facial recognition technology and Indigenous incarceration

‘Ye have angels’ faces, but heaven knows your hearts’

Henry VIII, Act three, scene one.

Yesterday’s Australian Financial Review (9-10 February 2019) ran a fascinating article by Mark White (‘Nowhere to Hide’: link behind paywall) on the accelerating spread of facial recognition technology world-wide. In the US, a number of members of Congress recently wrote to 39 law enforcement agencies seeking information on the extent of their use of this technology (link here). In Australia, the Identity-Matching Services Bill 2018 is currently before the Parliament, and according to White, once enacted will create a giant searchable hub somewhat ominously named 'the Capability' by pooling federal and state data bases such as passports and drivers licences. The Bill is currently being examined by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.

The article also mentions that state and federal police currently use facial recognition software in varying degrees, and points to the risk that these new technologies may have adverse implications for individuals when combined with existing watchlists and the like.

I recommend the article as a good introduction to what is clearly shaping as an important privacy issue generally.

However what attracted my attention in terms of Indigenous policy was the following paragraph in the article:

The NSW Police’s secret watchlist, the Suspect Target Management Program (STMP), identifies those believed to be at risk of offending, repeatedly stopping and searching them, and is overwhelmingly made up of Indigenous people.

I am not aware of any public discussion of this issue in policy forums, although I don’t follow NSW politics and policy issues closely. Nevertheless, it raises important issues for policymakers and those charged with oversighting the Executive both at state and at national levels.

In a recent media statement (link here) announcing the release of a report on the implementation of the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, Minister Scullion noted:

Minister Scullion said despite the review’s finding that significant progress has been made in implementing the recommendations, Indigenous people are still over-represented in prisons.

The report reinforces the fact that the vast majority of policy levers that impact on Indigenous incarceration rates remain within the remit of the states and territories therefore we need to continue to work in partnership with all state and territory jurisdictions if we are to achieve meaningful and long term improvements.

Through COAG and Closing the Gap, the Commonwealth remains committed to leading national efforts to reduce the over-representation of Indigenous Australians in prison.

If we were to take this statement at face value, this might be a good time for the Commonwealth to take some action in addressing the apparent over-representation of Indigenous citizens in police watchlists, and to perhaps consider whether there are any new risks for Indigenous citizens imprisonment rates in the new facial recognition technologies being adopted by governments.