Turnbull Wants to Put Your Face in a National Database, But Some Warn It's a Bit Too "1984"

The PM believes a new facial database is just the next step in keeping Australians safe.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull recently announced e would convince the Coalition of all Governments (COAG) to hand over their drivers' license information to help bolster the number of photos in a national facial database.

The national facial database is designed to help identify suspects in national security cases where the lives of Australians are at risk, but can also refer to other "criminal activities" which have not yet been clarified.

The Face Verification Service and Face Identification Service actually already exists, but right now, it only includes passport photos and details. With this proposed extension, all state drivers' licenses will be added to the database, increasing the number of faces considerably.

On Thursday, that was made possible when the COAG agreed unanimously to add state drivers' licences to the database.

New national security laws signed at a COAG marked by furious agreement #auspol @sbsnews pic.twitter.com/hY2dAhSdXE

— Daniela Ritorto (@danielaritorto) October 5, 2017

There have been concerns raised over some of the finer details regarding Prime Minister Turnbull's announcement and later comments made by him that suggest the database will allow federal security agencies to track people in real-time through the use of CCTV.

The PM mentioned initially that it may be used in shopping malls and football stadiums. He later clarified that "it doesn't involve surveillance, or indeed mass surveillance."

So, what does this mean for our privacy?

Student Edge spoke to Stephen Blanks, president of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, about why these changes might be infringing on personal privacy.

Blanks explains that a key concept to consider is proportionality. This is essentially the balancing of whether the infringements on personal privacy are proportionate to the risk to national security.

"It's always a question of balancing civil liberties and human rights with national security interests," Blanks admits, "[but] there has been no mention of proportionality [since Turnbull's announcement]."

In fact, Blanks believes NSW and Australia, in general, is the safest it's ever been.

"In NSW, the crime rate is lower than it has been for decades," Blanks explains.

"While there are incidences overseas that are heavily reported in the media and cause fear in the Australian community, it's not clear whether that fear is based in Australia's reality."

When asked about the threat of the database being hacked, which would undoubtedly lead to identity fraud, Turnbull responded to ABC Radio's AM by saying, "You can't allow the risk of hacking to prevent you from doing everything you can to keep Australians safe."

Blanks thinks it's absurd to think the risk of hacking should be ignored.

"[It's] a real risk and it needs to be taken into account," Blanks counters. "It raises concerns as to whether this proposal has been properly thought through."

And Blanks is not alone in considering these concerns. People have offered their concerns on Twitter in light of COAG agreement.

What now?

While the details surrounding who can access the database and for what reasons are quite scarce at the moment, Prime Minister Turnbull has insisted "it is not giving law enforcement agencies any new powers, but it would make it much faster to identify people suspected of criminal activities."

The changes are slated to come into effect as early as 2018, so, until then, we'll wait for more information to come out so we can properly evaluate what this might mean for the privacy of Australian citizens in the future.

Photo: iStock.com/stevanovicigor