Grocery Outlet stores deploy SAFR facial recognition to ID suspected shoplifters
Grocery Outlet has deployed SAFR facial recognition technology in its stores to identify individuals suspected of shoplifting. The system scans shoppers and matches their faces against a database of suspected offenders.
Why this matters: Every customer who walks into a Grocery Outlet now gets their face scanned. Most of them have done nothing wrong. Facial recognition systems built around loss prevention have a track record of misidentification, and the consequences fall hardest on people who look like someone in the database. There is no opt-out. You do not get told you are being scanned. If the system is wrong about you, the burden of proving it is yours. Catching shoplifters is a legitimate goal. Running biometric surveillance on everyone who buys groceries is a different thing entirely.
Who should care: Privacy officers · Cybersecurity · General readers · Policy
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