Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) in March 2017, the United States of America (US) Full House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform heard that approximately half of adult Americans' photographs are in a Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) database—FRT has accuracy deficiencies leading to misidentifying female and African American individuals at a higher rate; human verification is often insufficient as a backup and can allow for racial bias; the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) accepts an error rate of 15% in its system, and that the FBI used FRT for years without first publishing a privacy impact assessment and went to great lengths to exempt itself from certain provisions of the Privacy Act,

  (ii) in June 2016, the US Government Accountability Office analysed the FBI's use of FRT and found it to be lacking in accountability, accuracy and oversight, with key concerns that the FBI system does not test for false positives or for racial bias,

  (iii) FRT is subject to biases based on the data sets provided and the conditions in which algorithms are created, and

  (iv) the National Facial Biometric Matching Capability, based on the FBI's Next Generation Identification program, is subject to the same risks of bias and error rates; and

(b) calls on the Federal Government to ensure that:

  (i) all steps are taken to minimise bias and error rates in government facial recognition systems, including testing for false positives and racial bias, and

  (ii) government agencies using facial recognition systems comply with the Privacy Act, and maintain transparency, accountability, accuracy and oversight.

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The National Facial Biometric Matching Capability will protect Australians by making it easier for security and law enforcement agencies to identify people who are suspects or victims of terrorist or other criminal activity and prevent the use of fake or stolen identities. Similar and highly successful advanced technology initiatives such as the SmartGate and Govpass programs have prioritised accuracy, user testing and service delivery. The government is building robust privacy safeguards into the capability, including by conducting independent privacy impact assessments throughout the design and implementation phases.

Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The issues addressed in this motion regarding facial recognition technology are relevant to the Identity-matching Services Bill 2018 and the Australian Passports Amendment (Identity-matching Services) Bill 2018, introduced by the government this year. Those bills have been referred to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security for review. That review is ongoing and will rigorously examine the legislation and the evidence provided by a number of individuals and organisations. Labor does not support this motion because it pre-empts any findings or recommendations that the intelligence committee may make.

Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that notice of motion No. 786, as moved by Senator Steele-John, be agreed to.