Is facial recognition in retail simply the future?
No. These are business choices. This dystopian vision is what Big Brother Watch exists to prevent.
Silkie Carlo, Director of Big Brother Watch said:
“To see a supposedly ethical company secretly using rights-abusive tech like facial recognition on its customers in the UK is deeply chilling.
“This surveillance is well-known to suffer from severe inaccuracy and biases, leading to innocent people being wrongly flagged and put on criminal databases.
“Live facial recognition is more commonly seen in dictatorships than democracies. This is a serious error of judgement by Southern Co-op and we urge them to drop these Big Brother-style cameras immediately.”
BBC News — Co-op facial recognition trial raises privacy concerns
The Telegraph — Southern Co-Operative trialling facial recognition
The Times — Face-recognition cameras to catch shoplifters raise fears over privacy