The Silent Eye: Who Controls Facial Recognition Technology in Western Australia

The surveillance curtain falls

We are told the trial is over. On paper, the overt live facial recognition experiment conducted by the Western Australia Police Force has ceased. It is now transitioning into an internal evaluation. But for those of us who value civil liberties, this transition feels less like an ending and more like a quiet move into the shadows.

In my years as a GP, I learned that what you cannot see often does the most damage. Surveillance technology is no different. When we discuss live facial recognition, we are not just talking about software. We are talking about the fundamental right to move through our public spaces without being logged, tracked, or indexed by the state. This is not just bureaucracy, it is a waiting room for the erosion of our privacy.

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The danger of open-ended silence

I recently sought answers in Parliament regarding the future of this technology. I wanted to know who holds the authority to switch these systems back on. I wanted to know what written rules govern such power. Most importantly, I wanted to know if the public would be warned before being scanned by fixed cameras, third party hardware, or even cameras that have no warning signs at all.

The response from the government was chilling in its vagueness. We were told that should the trial be considered for new use cases in the future, the government will be informed. That is all. There is no promise of public debate. There is no guarantee of independent oversight. There is only the promise that the government will know. For the people of Western Australia, that is simply not enough.

Demanding evidence over convenience

We are a tribe of forward thinkers who believe that public policy must be grounded in science and verified by evidence. We do not accept that surveillance is the default state of a free society. The risk to our community is visceral: once this infrastructure is fully embedded, it is nearly impossible to remove. The cost to our personal freedom is far too high to be left to internal evaluations hidden from public view.

We deserve transparency. We deserve to know that our faces are not being used as data points for a system that lacks clear, public accountability. You can read the full exchange from the Legislative Council record here. If you agree that our privacy is worth fighting for, please join us at Legalise Cannabis WA as we continue to hold the powerful to account.