ello (@piers)

Update: "Australian hardware giant Bunnings has won its fight to monitor its customers with artificial intelligence facial recognition technology to combat retail crime and reduce staff abuse. Australia's Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind determined in 2024 that #Bunnings breached privacy laws by scanning hundreds of thousands of customers' faces without their proper consent. A review of that decision by the Administrative Review Tribunal of Australia has now found the opposite. "The retailer did not break the law by scanning customers' identities, but should improve its privacy policy and notify customers of the use of AI-based facial recognition technology, the ruling said [...] The decision could provide the legal framework for other retailers to follow Bunnings in embracing the use of AI to reduce the risk of crime in their stores. "Bunnings facial recognition technology was first used in one of its stores during a two-month trial in November, 2018. Between January, 2019 and November, 2021, the use of the AI tech was expanded to 62 other stores across NSW and VIC. The technology was designed by the Japanese company Hitachi and supplied to Bunnings via a third party, the tribunal ruling said. "[...] The practice came to the attention of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) when consumer advocacy group Choice revealed in 2022 that Bunnings, Kmart and The Good Guys were using facial recognition technology. All three stores halted the practice in the wake of Choice's report." Luke Cooper, ABC #MassSurveillance https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-05/bunnings-wins-ai-facial-recognition-tech-fight/106309308