Question – Clarification re National Drivers Facial Recognition Database

Questions asked by the Hon. Meg Webb MLC on 5 June 2023 and answered by the Hon. Michael Ferguson MP, Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, on 15 June 2023 (delivered in Parliament on Tuesday 27 June 2023).  

With regard to the Minister’s response dated the 1^st of June on the matter of the National Driver Licence Facial Recognition Solution (the “Solution’) and the Tasmanian data supplied by the state government to the Solution, can the Government clarify the apparent discrepancy between answers 1 (b) and 2 (b), specifically:

1. How does the Minister’s response to 1(b) that, “post 20 October 2020, 25,648 records have been provided, comprising new and updated records” to the Solution, reconcile with the subsequent response to 2(b) which states the daily upload of records to the Solution “has been paused since 20 October 2020” ?;
2. Detail the manner by which 25, 648 new and updated records were provided to the Solution since 20 October 2020, if they were not provided via an upload of daily files?; and
3. Clarify whether the 25, 648 new and updated records provided since 20 October 2020 were in fact drivers licence records or any other form of Tasmanian records?

ANSWER:

1. Unfortunately, the advice previously provided based on information from the Department of State Growth was incorrect. The number of records provided post 20 October 2020 is 25,648. The daily transfer has been paused since 16 December 2020.
2. The 25,648 records were uploaded to the Solution through contemporary web services security standards with strong encryption protocols and hardened ciphers. Additionally, the exchange is digitally signed, so that they cannot be tampered with without detection.
3. The 25,648 records provided were driver licence records. Tasmania has not uploaded into the Solution any records other than driver licences. There are no current plans to load any other government issued identification records into the Solution. This would only be done through legislative changes.

See more of Meg’s Questions to Parliament.