Three of Australia's biggest retail chains have been referred to the privacy regulator after being referred to by Australian retail giants in the face recognition tech complaint SYDNEY Reuters - A major consumer group said they used unreasonably intrusive facial recognition technology on customers and recommended enforcement action.
CHOICE, in a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner OAIC, said the use of the technology at JB Hi-Fi Ltd's appliances chain The Good Guys and the Australian arm of big box retailer Kmart was unwarranted and in violation of privacy law.
The OAIC, JB Hi-Fi and Wesfarmers were not available for comment. The retailers told local media they used the technology for security purposes.
CHOICE is a key factor in many regulatory changes, including bans on risky financial products, because it is involved in government inquiries involving consumer issues.
In the complaint, CHOICE policy adviser Amy Pereira said that facial recognition technology brought significant risk to individuals including invasion of privacy, misidentification, discrimination, profiling and exclusion, as well as vulnerability to cybercrime through data breaches and identity theft.
Australia would have the biggest investigation into the technology, despite the fact that OAIC had looked into the matter before.
In 2021, after setting up in-store surveys on the matter, it ordered the Australian 7-Eleven chain to destroy faceprints collected at 700 convenience stores. The practice in Australia has been stopped by the U.S. software developer Clearview AI, which collects images from social media websites to build profiles of individuals.
The three chains in the CHOICE complaint operated about 800 stores, booking A $25 billion $17 billion in sales last year.
The consumer group said the three firms collected personal and sensitive information without consent and did not disclose the practice in a policy.
Some stores have signs alerting shoppers to the technology, but customers' silence can't be taken as consent and many had no alternative place to make their purchases, CHOICE said.