Kmart’s use of facial recognition to tackle refund fraud unlawful
Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind has found that Kmart Australia Limited (Kmart) breached Australians’ privacy by collecting their personal and sensitive information through a facial recognition technology (FRT) system designed to tackle refund fraud.Between June 2020 and July 2022, Kmart deployed FRT to capture the faces of every person who entered 28 of its retail stores, and all individuals who presented at a returns counter, in an attempt to identify people committing refund fraud.In a determination published today, the Privacy Commissioner found that Kmart did not notify shoppers or seek their consent to use FRT to collect their biometric information, which is sensitive personal information and enjoys higher protections under the Privacy Act.The retailer argued that it was not…
