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On 1 November 2010 the Office of the Privacy Commissioner was integrated into the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and a new website established at www.oaic.gov.au.

Note 1: Major changes to the Privacy Act 1988 will come into effect in March 2014. Agencies, businesses and not for profits need to start preparing for these changes. For more information go to our privacy law reform page at www.oaic.gov.au
Note 2: From 12 March 2013 content is no longer being added to, or amended, on this site, consequently some information may be out of date. For new privacy content visit the www.oaic.gov.au website.

Types

Topic(s): Law enforcement and national security

Announcement: Privacy and Passport Initiatives

21 May 2002

"As with most technology, the use of a biometric identifier on a passport is not inherently privacy invasive. It's the implementation of the biometric identifier that will determine if it is privacy enhancing or invasive," said Federal Privacy Commissioner, Malcolm Crompton.

"Biometrics are powerful tools that also can go powerfully wrong. This is one of the reasons why it is very important that privacy issues are addressed during the development of biometric identifiers.

"My Office has not been formally consulted on the recently announced initiative to add a biometric identifier to Australian passports. The announcement states that $3 million will be put aside to research the initiative and I expect that the Office will be consulted during that process.

"There has been an identifier on our passports for a long time, it's called a photograph and for most people this is not a problem. At all airports around the world, customs officers check that we look like the photo on our passport. If the proposal is that a computer will now belong to that checking process then this may not have worrying privacy implications.

"However, if our face scans become stored on computers around the world, swapped between nations with no checks or balances and without our knowledge then the privacy implications are huge.

"Biometric identifiers can enhance or invade people's privacy. Developers of these types of initiatives need to consider the following issues during the testing and development of their technologies:

Design the solution to fit the actual problem.
Think through and be clear about the privacy implications of the solution.
Seek public views and comments on the proposal.
Implement the proposal with appropriate legislative checks and balances.
Ensure the process is transparent, accountable and will be reported on.
Review the initiative.

For a comprehensive list of issues to consider please refer to the Commissioner''s speech notes: Biometrics and Privacy: The End of the World as We Know It or The White Knight of Privacy?