Supermarket giants exploring use of facial recognition technology in Australia
Major supermarket chains in Australia are reported to be looking into using facial recognition technology in their stores. No specific implementation details or timelines have been disclosed.
Why this matters: Grocery stores are not optional. Most people cannot avoid them. If supermarkets deploy facial recognition, they are building a biometric database of ordinary people doing ordinary things, without those people having any real choice in the matter. Australia has seen retailers quietly run facial recognition trials before, with customers finding out well after the fact. The stake here is simple: your face, scanned every time you buy food, stored by a private company, used for purposes you probably never agreed to.
Who should care: Privacy officers · Cybersecurity · General readers · Policy
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