Both NSW Liberal and Labour have not yet made a decision on facial recognition technology (FRT) for gaming venues. Though, they both have reform packages on gambling and how to use technology for it.
The opposition leader Chris Minns had announced that if the Labour party wins in NSW, it will mandate the use of facial recognition technology (FRT).
Last year, 100 NSW pubs and clubs announced plans to use facial recognition technology voluntarily to identify problem gamblers.
In a speech introducing the bill to parliament, Anderson said FRT would “be used for gambling harm minimisation or to identify people suspected of committing a serious offence such as money laundering”.
Monash University professor Mark Andrejevic, who studied South Australia’s FRT policy with Monash Dat said“Vendors are already selling facial recognition technology for identifying and monitoring “VIPs” and high rollers, presumably with the goal of getting them to gamble more.’’
According to the statement, the researcher Andrejevic found that during the study of South Australia’s mandatory facial recognition technology (FRT) policy, venue managers reported that the technology was less accurate in identifying Indigenous Australians.
This raises concerns about the potential biases and unequal impacts of FRT and highlights the importance of considering the consequences and fairness of such technologies before they are widely implemented.
