A woman protected by a family violence intervention order was allegedly contacted by the man subject of that decree, after her basketball game was livestreamed by Israeli AI cameras endorsed by Basketball Australia.
A second woman, who also raised concerns about the Balla turat game being streamed, was contacted by an estranged family member she had been avoiding.
In both instances, concerns were raised about streaming the game, with the association allegedly warned a week before the match that doing so could put the women in danger. This is according to the players’ coach, who Deepcut has chosen not to name to protect the safety of the women.
When the team reported the incidents, Ballarat Basketball’s general manager, Chris Thornton, told the women in an email sent on 16 September and seen by Deepcut that “Ballarat Basketball does not have the level of administrative access within the platform to independently hide or block games”.
That level of access is retained by the Israeli firm. “At present, our avenue to action a specific request of this nature is to communicate it directly to Pixellot,” the email read.
On privacy concerns, Thornton said the association “was not responsible for establishing [the] national frameworks and processes” and directed questions to Basketball Australia and Pixellot.
‘Children should feel safe’
The coach said they were concerned about the implied consent attached to filming, adding that many participants were not aware the games were being recorded.
“I want my players to be able to play without fear of who is watching and how it connects them to those who they don’t want nor need to be connected to,” the coach said.
“As a parent, I want my child to just be able to play and simply be a kid. A basketball court should without second thought be a safe place, free from exploitation of who knows what is happening from people accessing his image,” they said.
The coach said that players were also being asked to pay a new mandatory fee within their registration to cover the cost of the Israeli AI system.
“People deserve the right to choose, and the way that it was presented by Basketball Ballarat – apparently following Basketball Australia policies and implementation guidelines – took that choice away,” they said.
The alleged incidents follow a Deepcut investigation revealing Basketball Australia’s plans for a national rollout of the Israeli AI camera system. The technology automatically records games, regardless of age or playing level, under the premise of automating performance analytics.
The technology’s links to a former Israeli Defence Force intelligence officer have also attracted scrutiny given the Israeli genocide in Gaza, in which its forces have slaughtered at least 21,000 children, often with the assistance of AI technology. There is no evidence, however, the Pixellot system has been used for Israeli military purposes.
Underage teams watched
Questions abound as to who can access the Pixellot platform, after Deepcut was able to create an account without consenting to any privacy or safety conditions, and without being asked for credentials that tied the user to an association.
Deepcut was then able to follow numerous underage teams belonging to Ballarat Basketball, which appear to be populated ahead of a new season starting this month. Previously recorded domestic games at Ballarat and Knox Basketball were freely available to watch.
This is despite Basketball Australia previously telling this masthead that access would be limited to players, coaches, parents and guardians, authorised association administrators and service personnel.
Respect Victoria’s CEO Helen Bolton said normalising filming and sharing images – particularly of children – without consent enabled the culture that underpins gendered violence.
“Technology-facilitated abuse is rapidly changing and includes abuse like using technology to track or record someone without their consent, or the use of AI to create sexual exploitation images, including of children,” Bolton said.
“New technologies should be carefully considered by any organisation with a duty of care, including children’s sport. This means not procuring any service or software where policies and practices around how data is used, shared and governed is not clearly understood and able to be shared easily with parents, families and children who it affects.”
Family violence extends to technology
Bolton said it was concerning that external technology providers controlled whether footage was recorded or published, particularly when the data was housed in countries with different and less stringent data security regulations than Australia.
“This means that it is impossible for anyone to give informed consent for their images being captured as they don’t know where they will end up,” she said.
“The recording of children and young people via automated livestreaming therefore does pose risks. Not only for people who are currently experiencing violence, but also for how we raise the next generation and their understanding of consent and safe and healthy relationships.”
In a 2025 national survey on technology abuse and domestic violence carried out by Wesnet, Australia’s peak body for domestic violence, 99.7 per cent of family violence practitioners reported clients who had been abused, stalked or threatened via technology.
“When a participant raises a safety concern, the sporting organisation should listen, act immediately and ask what they need to participate safely,” Westnet CEO Karen Bentley told Deepcut.
“No one should have to choose between their safety and participating in sport.”
Basketball Australia, Basketball Victoria, Ballarat Basketball, Knox Basketball and Pixellot did not respond to detailed questions from Deepcut.
These fascists are fucking everywhere. Israel is the enemy of humanity and the Australian government is inviting them to destroy every aspect of civil society.
Now do you see?