Australian supermarket giants, Coles and Woolworths have confirmed they conducted limited tests of facial recognition technology to record shoppers’ personal biometric data. This information is then checked against a watchlist of individuals who have been flagged for aggressive behaviour. The supermarkets explained that the technology trials form part of a broader retail sector push to explore options for tackling rising crime and violent incidents in stores.
“A small, one-off, controlled proof-of-concept test of the technology was undertaken which did not use customer or team-member information or data,” a Coles spokesman told The Australian Financial Review.
“No decision has been made about the deployment of facial recognition technology. We will always explore technology that will help us keep our team and customers safe.”
While neither supermarket chain would confirm whether they would be proceeding with the rollout of technology across their stores, news of the trial has reignited concerns around the use of surveillance and consumer privacy.
RMIT University marketing expert, Dr Jason Pallant, said the trials posed a “security versus privacy dilemma”.
“With retail crime on the rise, security in stores to protect shoppers and shopfront staff is critical. Cameras and facial recognition technology have a key role to play in that regard.
“However, it also creates a challenge and many questions for other visitors; why is their face being scanned, what happens to those recordings and data, how is consent given, and are children – who can’t legally consent – treated differently?
“We’ve seen retailers be criticised for not being transparent enough with their use of the tech. So there are issues around how the tech is used, but also how it is explained to consumers.”
