Sainsbury’s has announced today that it will be launching an 8-week trial of live facial recognition technology in two of its stores in London and Bath.
The technology, provided by Facewatch, is used in conjunction with CCTV cameras. Customers’ faces are automatically scanned and compared against a watchlist of people, provided by Facewatch. As watchlists are compiled by Facewatch’s customers, individuals on the watchlists need not be investigated or convicted of any crime to be placed on the list.
Facial recognition provided by Facewatch has already resulted in multiple cases of innocent people being falsely accused of shoplifting. In one case, a teenage girl in Manchester was wrongly flagged as a suspected shoplifter by the technology, searched, publicly thrown out of the store and told by staff that she was banned from shops and supermarkets up and down the country. In another, a woman in Greater Manchester was twice removed from her local shops after being wrongly labelled as a shoplifter by Facewatch and Home Bargains. In Rotherham, a Sports Direct shopper was accused of being a fraudster after he was flagged by Facewatch’s technology.
Big Brother Watch’s Senior Advocacy Officer Madeleine Stone said:
“Sainsbury’s decision to trial Orwellian facial recognition technology in its shops is deeply disproportionate and chilling. Facial recognition surveillance turns shoppers into suspects, with devastating consequences for people’s lives when it inevitably makes mistakes.
Sainsbury’s and Facewatch are adding customers to secret watchlists with no due process, meaning people are being falsely accused, grossly mistreated and blacklisted from shops, despite being entirely innocent. We are regularly hearing from and supporting distressed people who have been caught up in a confusing net of privatised surveillance, despite being entirely innocent.
Facial recognition is dangerously out of control in the UK. Sainsbury’s should abandon this trial and the government must urgently step in to prevent the unchecked spread of this invasive technology.”
NOTES
- Spokespeople are available for interview – please contact 07730439257 or info@bigbrotherwatch.org.uk.
-
The technology will be deployed in the Sydenham superstore in London and the Oldfield Sainsbury’s Local store in Bath.
- Big Brother Watch is at the forefront of the UK campaign to stop live facial recognition surveillance – our campaign page, with details of our latest research and investigations, is available at StopFacialRecognition.org.
ENDS