Skip to main content

Site navigation

  • University of Technology Sydney home
  • Home

    Home
  • For students

  • For industry

  • Research

Explore

  • Courses
  • Events
  • News
  • Stories
  • People

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt
  • Study at UTS

    • arrow_right_alt Find a course
    • arrow_right_alt Course areas
    • arrow_right_alt Undergraduate students
    • arrow_right_alt Postgraduate students
    • arrow_right_alt Research Masters and PhD
    • arrow_right_alt Online study and short courses
  • Student information

    • arrow_right_alt Current students
    • arrow_right_alt New UTS students
    • arrow_right_alt Graduates (Alumni)
    • arrow_right_alt High school students
    • arrow_right_alt Indigenous students
    • arrow_right_alt International students
  • Admissions

    • arrow_right_alt How to apply
    • arrow_right_alt Entry pathways
    • arrow_right_alt Eligibility
arrow_right_altVisit our hub for students

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt

POPULAR LINKS

  • Apply for a coursearrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt
  • Scholarshipsarrow_right_alt
  • Featured industries

    • arrow_right_alt Agriculture and food
    • arrow_right_alt Defence and space
    • arrow_right_alt Energy and transport
    • arrow_right_alt Government and policy
    • arrow_right_alt Health and medical
    • arrow_right_alt Corporate training
  • Explore

    • arrow_right_alt Tech Central
    • arrow_right_alt Case studies
    • arrow_right_alt Research
arrow_right_altVisit our hub for industry

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt

POPULAR LINKS

  • Find a UTS expertarrow_right_alt
  • Partner with usarrow_right_alt
  • Explore

    • arrow_right_alt Explore our research
    • arrow_right_alt Research centres and institutes
    • arrow_right_alt Graduate research
    • arrow_right_alt Research partnerships
arrow_right_altVisit our hub for research

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt

POPULAR LINKS

  • Find a UTS expertarrow_right_alt
  • Research centres and institutesarrow_right_alt
  • University of Technology Sydney home
Explore the University of Technology Sydney
Category Filters:
University of Technology Sydney home University of Technology Sydney home
  1. home
  2. arrow_forward_ios ... Newsroom
  3. arrow_forward_ios ... 2022
  4. arrow_forward_ios 09
  5. arrow_forward_ios A blueprint for regulation of facial recognition technology

A blueprint for regulation of facial recognition technology

27 September 2022

A new report by the UTS Human Technology Institute sets out a model law to address threats to Australians’ privacy and other human rights.

Special people amid the crowd concept with colorful persons amid the monochrome people. Top view from drone.

Picture: Adobe Stock

A new report from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Human Technology Institute outlines a model law for facial recognition technology to protect against harmful use of this technology, but also foster innovation for public benefit.

Australian law was not drafted with widespread use of facial recognition in mind. Led by UTS Industry Professors Edward Santow and Nicholas Davis, the report recommends reform to modernise our law, especially to address threats to Australians’ privacy and other human rights.

Facial recognition and other remote biometric technologies have grown exponentially in recent years, raising concerns about privacy, mass surveillance and unfairness experienced, especially by people of colour and women, when the technology makes mistakes. 

In June 2022, a CHOICE investigation revealed that several large Australian retailers were using facial recognition to identify customers entering their stores, leading to considerable community alarm and calls for improved regulation. There have also been widespread calls for reform of facial recognition law – in Australia and internationally.

This new report responds to those calls. It recognises that our faces are special, in the sense that humans rely heavily on each other’s faces to identify and interact. This reliance leaves us particularly vulnerable to human rights restrictions when this technology is misused or overused. 

The starting point should be to ensure that facial recognition is developed and used in ways that uphold people’s basic human rights.

Professor Edward Santow

“When facial recognition applications are designed and regulated well, there can be real benefits, helping to identify people efficiently and at scale. The technology is widely used by people who are blind or have a vision impairment, making the world more accessible for those groups,” said Professor Santow, the former Australian Human Rights Commissioner and now Co-Director of the Human Technology Institute. 

“This report proposes a risk-based model law for facial recognition. The starting point should be to ensure that facial recognition is developed and used in ways that uphold people’s basic human rights,” he said.

“The gaps in our current law have created a kind of regulatory market failure. Many respected companies have pulled back from offering facial recognition because consumers aren’t properly protected. Those companies still offering in this area are not required to focus on the basic rights of people affected by this tech,” said Professor Davis, a former member of the executive committee at the World Economic Forum in Geneva and Co-Director of the Human Technology Institute. 

“Many civil society organisations, government and inter-governmental bodies and independent experts have sounded the alarm about dangers associated with current and predicted uses of facial recognition,” he said.

This report calls on Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus to lead a national facial recognition reform process. This should start by introducing a bill into the Australian Parliament based on the model law set out in the report. 

view from above of people walking silhouetted against golden street background rome

Picture: Adobe Stock

The report also recommends assigning regulatory responsibility to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner to regulate the development and use of this technology in the federal jurisdiction, with a harmonised approach in state and territory jurisdictions.

The model law sets out three levels of risk to human rights for individuals affected by the use of a particular facial recognition technology application, as well as risks to the broader community. 

Under the model law, anyone who develops or deploys facial recognition technology must first assess the level of human rights risk that would apply to their application. That assessment can then be challenged by members of the public and the regulator. 

Based on the risk assessment, the model law then sets out a cumulative set of legal requirements, restrictions and prohibitions.

The report, Facial Recognition Technology: towards a model law, has been co-authored by Prof Nicholas Davis, Prof Edward Santow, and Lauren Perry of the Human Technology Institute, UTS. 

Share
Share this on Facebook Share this on Twitter Share this on LinkedIn
Back to Business and law

Related News

  • Industry Professor - Responsible Technology Ed Santow
    UTS partners with LexisNexis to train lawyers in AI

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation and the Boorooberongal People of the Dharug Nation upon whose ancestral lands our campuses now stand. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands. 

University of Technology Sydney

City Campus

15 Broadway, Ultimo, NSW 2007

Get in touch with UTS

Follow us

  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Facebook

A member of

  • Australian Technology Network
Use arrow keys to navigate within each column of links. Press Tab to move between columns.

Study

  • Find a course
  • Undergraduate
  • Postgraduate
  • How to apply
  • Scholarships and prizes
  • International students
  • Campus maps
  • Accommodation

Engage

  • Find an expert
  • Industry
  • News
  • Events
  • Experience UTS
  • Research
  • Stories
  • Alumni

About

  • Who we are
  • Faculties
  • Learning and teaching
  • Sustainability
  • Initiatives
  • Equity, diversity and inclusion
  • Campus and locations
  • Awards and rankings
  • UTS governance

Staff and students

  • Current students
  • Help and support
  • Library
  • Policies
  • StaffConnect
  • Working at UTS
  • UTS Handbook
  • Contact us
  • Copyright © 2025
  • ABN: 77 257 686 961
  • CRICOS provider number: 00099F
  • TEQSA provider number: PRV12060
  • TEQSA category: Australian University
  • Privacy
  • Copyright
  • Disclaimer
  • Accessibility