Facial Recognition in Foodstuffs NZ stores
Information Certainty: Documented
Deployment Purpose: Commercial Surveillance
| Summary |
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| 0 |
Products and Institutions:
| Product Deployed | Unknown Products 0013 Auror (Software) |
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| Institutions ⠉ | Auror |
| Datasets | Unknown Dataset 0039 |
| Search software |
Status and Events:
| Status | Ongoing |
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| Events | |
| Start Date | |
| End Date |
Users:
| Involved Entities | |
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| Managed by | Foodstuffs NZ |
| Used by | Pak n Save New World Four Square NZ |
Location:
| City | Auckland |
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| Country ⠉ | New Zealand |
Description[ ]
Foodstuffs NZ, which also owns Pak n Save, Four Square and New World food stores, was found in 2018 to have been using facial recognition. It is used to address shoplifting. It is not known how many stores facial recognition is in live use. In 2022, Foodstuffs still uses facial recognition and also is working on using virtual reality.
Businesses are also employing FRT for security purposes. In May 2018 a man was taken aside by staff at a New World supermarket in Dunedin after he was mistakenly identified as a shoplifter. The parent company Foodstuff refused to identify which of its stores were using FRT to identify shoplifters from existing held lists of suspect individuals. Both the Prime Minister and Privacy Commissioner noted concerns around the inaccuracy of the technology based on overseas research, highlighting the need for regulation 2
Foodstuffs corporate affairs head Antoinette Laird brushed off recent questions from Stuff about which stores were using facial recognition or whether it had spread to the South Island. "We are frantic getting everything sorted for Xmas and the holiday season! That's our focus right now," was her response. She declined to comment further 1
In the first week of February Foodstuffs North Island New World, Pak ‘n Save and Four Square stores reported more than 50 incidents of aggression, and it has begun trialling virtual reality training to teach staff how to de-escalate threatening or potentially violent situations 3
References
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- ^ Lynch, Nessa and Campbell, Liz and Purshouse, Joe and Betkier, Marcin. Facial recognition technology in New Zealand: Towards an ethical and legal framework. , 2020.
- ^ "The quiet creep of facial recognition systems into New Zealand life". (2020) <https://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/118202977/the-quiet-creep-of-facial-recognition-systems-into-new-zealand-life> Accessed: 2022-06-14
- ^ "Rising retail crime is uglier, more violent, more organised, and costs households at least $800 a year in higher prices". (2022) <https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/128268925/rising-retail-crime-is-uglier-more-violent-more-organised-and-costs-households-at-least-800-a-year-in-higher-prices> Accessed: 2022-06-15