In Western Australia, police have just started trialling technology that can identify people as they walk past. 

A marked police van will scan faces outside major events, cross-checking them against a watchlist of people wanted by authorities. Police say it’s targeted and that innocent people have nothing to fear. But once this kind of surveillance is switched on, the question becomes how far it spreads, and who decides when it stops. 

Today, UNSW cyber security expert Professor Richard Buckland, on the scope creep of live facial recognition technology, and the danger of normalising police powers before the public understands them.

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Guest: UNSW cyber security expert Professor Richard Buckland

Photo: WA Police