By Peter Lewis
Publication Date: 2026-02-11 02:13:00
Say cheese! A decision last week that gave Bunnings the green light to use facial recognition technology to routinely monitor customers provides a less-than-welcoming glimpse of how ill-prepared Australia is for the coming AI storm.
On the face of it, the Administrative Court’s decision to overturn the Data Protection Commissioner’s finding that Bunnings’ use of intrusive, high-impact AI was unlawful is a technical decision. But the impact will be significant.
Expect retailers and others working in public spaces to expand the collection of our biometric information and compare it with vast and often inaccurate external databases to make real-time decisions about whether we can access previous commons.
Bunnings argues that it responded to concerns about violence in stores but chose this crude technical solution that dehumanizes customers and employees in the name of their safety.
Secretly tracking customers has transformed the marketplace from a place of human connection to a place of automated checkouts,…
