Supermarkets to use facial recognition cameras to stop the worst shoplifters
Supermarkets are planning to deploy facial recognition cameras to identify and deter repeat shoplifters. The technology would flag individuals with prior theft histories when they enter stores.
Why this matters: This puts facial recognition into everyday life in a way most people have not agreed to. You go to buy groceries and a camera checks your face against a database before you reach the bread aisle. The system will make mistakes. People get misidentified. And once this infrastructure is in place for shoplifting, the scope of who gets flagged and why tends to grow. The question is not whether stores can reduce theft. It is whether blanket biometric surveillance of every shopper is a reasonable price to pay for it.
Who should care: Privacy officers · Cybersecurity · General readers · Policy
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