It has been revealed facial recognition technology is being used at a number of major Australian stadiums, often without people’s knowledge or consent

    

Sporting and concert venues have been outed for using controversial facial recognition technology, often without patrons knowledge or consent. A choice investigation is now raising 

concerns about how the sensitive data is being stored and used. There are among the most popular venues in the country, the MCG, the SCG, Allianz Stadium and Kudos Bank Arena. But patrons might be stunned to know facial recognition technology 

is tracking their every movement. What we see here is companies acting as if consumers should all be under suspicion and should all subject themselves to this mass surveillance. A choice investigation has revealed how hard it is for consumers to even know their facial 

features are being captured and then matched against a database. When we went to Kudos Bank Arena you've in fact passed seven cameras between the car park and the entry point. Before you even see the sign we calculated it would take 

about 12 minutes to read that sign. Venues New South Wales which operates the SCG and Allianz Stadium says it's no secret it uses facial recognition, even inviting our cameras into its state of the art control 

centre a few years ago. It says the technology is critical in keeping patrons safe by keeping out banned spectators or troublemakers. But experts warn that technology still isn't good enough, often misidentifying people, particularly those from ethnic backgrounds. 

You can see some very serious consequences potentially arising for people if they are wrongly matched or identified from this technology. The Attorney General's Department is currently reviewing the rules around all forms of facial 

recognition technology important given the regulations pretty much date back to the 1980s. Choice says new rules can't come soon enough. In an age when we use our faces to open our phones, bank accounts and across international 

borders how the data is stored and who has access to it is also a concern. If there was to be a large data breach like we saw last year with Optus and Medibank it's easy enough to change your license number even though it's quite annoying but you can't 

change your face. Eddie Meyer 9 News