‘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.
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