Facewatch has recently grown in popularity as a security system for co-ops. Through facial recognition and watchlists, it alerts staff if a potential shoplifter enters a store. CCTV footage and physical descriptions make up the watchlists. However, because of inherent bias in AI, this can lead to the targeting of innocent customers. Director of Big Brother Watch Silkie Carlo says:
“This surveillance is well-known to suffer from severe inaccuracy and biases, leading to innocent people being wrongly flagged”.