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The federal government plans to launch a driver’s licence facial recognition program by the end of the year, allowing people to complete biometric checks using their driver’s licence.
The National Driver Licence Facial Recognition Solution (NDLFRS) was first proposed eight years ago in 2017, after state, territory and federal government agencies agreed to create a national face-matching database.
The NDLFRS would form part of the Department of Home Affairs’ Identity Matching Services (IDMS) and would assist law enforcement and other agencies with identification and sharing data.
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull denied that the NDLFRS would be a mass surveillance tool, adding that the system would not be “accessing photo ID information that is not currently available”.
“These [photos have been] available to law enforcement agencies now and have been for many years, if not for generations,” he said.
The program was later taken over by the Attorney General’s Department (AGD).
Now, the AGD has announced that the NDLFRS will be incorporated into the Face Verification Service (FVS), which crosschecks facial images and biographic data on ID documents with original government records.
“The FVS will soon be supported by the [NDLFRS],” the department said.
“With agreement from the states and territories, the NDLFRS will enable Australians to use a state or territory driver’s licence to biometrically verify their identity through the FVS. The NDLFRS is expected to be operational in 2025.”
Both driver’s licenses and passports can be used within the same biometric verification system, which the government said will aid it in identifying and preventing identity fraud and with secure service access.
In 2019, both Victoria and Tasmania submitted licences and photos to a system that would later interface with the NDLFRS, with South Australia doing the same later. However, the program was delayed when the Coalition government failed to pass the Identity-Matching Services Bill 2019.
However, in 2023, the Labor government passed both the Identity Verification Services Bill 2023 and the Identity Verification Services (Consequential Amendments) Bill, which came into effect in December last year as a stripped-back version of the previously proposed legislation.
This required the already submitted data by Tasmania, Victoria, and South Australia to be removed and agreements reformed.
“Tasmanian data has since been removed, and Victorian and South Australian data cannot be made available for identity verification until the new agreements are signed by those states in accordance with the act,” said an AGD spokesperson.
The NDLFRS will be managed by Fujitsu until June next year as part of a $50 million agreement, and it is currently housed in a data centre in Canberra.
“The Australian government is committed to protecting Australians from identity crime,” a spokesperson for the AGD said
“Identity crime is one of the most prevalent crimes in Australia – approximately one in three Australians will be a victim of identity crime at some point in their lives.
“The department continually monitors changes in technology to ensure the NDLFRS systems remain up to date and fit for purpose.”
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