Committee rejects biometrics for pokies

The gambling reform parliamentary committee has rejected the use of biometrics as a form of identification technology for gamblers, stating that the technology would be a privacy overreach.

(The far west slot machine image by Andres Rueda, CC2.0)

The report (PDF), handed down today by the committee looking at tackling the gambling addiction that currently affects 95,000 Australians, and led by Independent MP Andrew Wilkie, detailed a number of technologies that could be used for the mandatory pre-commitment scheme that could make a gambler set a limit on the amount they want to gamble before they sit down at the pokies. This included magnetic strip cards, smart cards, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), USB and USB with biometrics. The committee ultimately rejected suggestions for biometrics as part of its recommendations.

"The identification requirements needed to prevent player fraud can be accommodated with less intrusive technologies. The identification system must record basic information only, such as name and address. The committee does not accept that a range of personal data need be stored in a national database; but acknowledges that some basic data will need to be kept (perhaps jurisdictionally) for verification purposes," the committee said.

The committee has recommended that the proposed national regulation authority for gambling should be provided with a detailed plan for registration and identification of gamblers that specifically outlines how privacy is handled.

Instead of using biometrics, the committee has proposed that players be given a card with a pre-set default spending limit, and a default time limit in which that money can be spent. Both of these options are customisable by the user in the proposal, but the spending limit cannot be changed if the player has gambled within the current allocated time frame.

A mandatory pre-commitment scheme for gambling should be in place for all players of high intensity electronic gambling machines by 2014, the committee recommended, but it has given leeway for smaller regional pubs and clubs.

All pubs and clubs across Australia would not be required to have the exact same sort of technology or linked systems by 2014, the committee said; instead it has proposed a three-stage implementation. States and territories could have their own protocols for mandatory pre-commitment by 2014, moving to ensure every pub and club in their jurisdiction had the same technology. The third phase would move to implement a uniform national standard.

The committee estimated that the most it would cost clubs to implement this technology is about $3 billion, which it said was just over half of the amount lost by problem gamblers every 12 months.