Despite concerns from digital rights groups, Australia pushes to use facial recognition AI to detect banned addicts who are banned from gambling sites. The facial recognition technology was first seen at Warilla Hotel in Eastern Australia. 

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A general view shows an under construction Crown development in Sydney on April 9, 2019. - Australian gambling giant Crown Resorts on April 9 confirmed a takeover offer from US gaming group Wynn Resorts, estimated to be worth more than USD 7 billion, sending the firm's shares surging by a quarter.

Facial Recognition to Solve Gambling Problems

A report from South China Morning Post stated that Warilla Hotel in Eastern Australia started to use a small camera with facial recognition to scan the faces of the people before entering the hotel, as they prohibit gambling addicts to enter the facility. Aside from this hotel, New South Wales is also set to roll out these cameras to different gambling sites.

A lot of people are still hesitant about these cameras, especially digital rights groups across the country. Digital Rights Watch Program Lead Samantha Floreani stated that this type of technology is dangerous, invasive, and hurts people's basic and fundamental rights. 

She added, "We should be exceptionally wary of introducing it into more areas of our lives, and it should not be seen as a simple quick-fix solution to complex social issues."

As per the supporters of this move, it will help to solve the gambling problem in the country. Gambling affects Australia's 1% of its population and the annual losses because of this problem are costing billions of dollars.

The organizers of the scheme along with ClubsNSW and the Australian Hotels Association NSW said that they have implemented restrictions for strict privacy so there is nothing to worry about. The Warilla Hotel did not give any comment regarding this matter but as per their website, the hotel supports responsible gambling.

AI-ed Facial Recognitions

This technology uses AI for the cameras to match live images person against the prohibited person that is in the database of images. Based on a report from Aljazeera, the camera includes a gallery of people who signed up for a "self-exclusion" voluntarily to prohibit them from entering the gambling sites. Once they are detected, staff from the casinos will be alerted and will escort the person away from gambling machines. 

AHA NSW Director John Gren stated that this is their best shot at preventing people who voluntarily signed from prohibiting them to enter the venues. He also clarified that the data that the camera will be collecting are secured and encrypted as it will not be accessible by any third parties like the police and the gambling site itself.

Also Read: Mobile Game Gambling Gone Wrong? Woman Admits Stealing $680,000 to Play 

Instead of prohibiting these people, Floreani suggested that a support was the best solution rather than having a technology that feels like a punishment once they are detected. This is also dangerous since not all people opted to this technology.

"And those who have not opted into these programmes ought to be able to go to the pub without having their faces scanned and their privacy undermined," she added. 

The Australia Human Rights Commission also called for a ban on facial recognition technology last year. As long as it does not have a "stronger, clearer, and more targeted" human rights protections, the group will not be supporting this. Meanwhile, Bunnings and Kmart also halted this technology after the government opened a case regarding these retail stores violating a law.

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Written by Inno Flores