Plan for massive facial recognition database sparks privacy concerns

If you've had a driver's licence photo or passport photo taken in Australia in the past few years, it's likely your face will end up in a massive new national network the federal government is trying to create. Victoria and Tasmania have already begun to upload driver's licence details to state databases that will eventually be linked to a future national one. Legislation before federal parliament will allow government agencies and private businesses to access facial IDs held by state and territory traffic authorities, and passport photos held by the foreign affairs department. The justification for what would be the most significant compulsory collection of personal data since My Health Record is cracking down on identity fraud. The home affairs department estimates that the annual cost of ID fraud is $2.2bn, and says introducing a facial component to the government's document verification service would help prevent it.