Foodstuffs’ facial tech raises concerns

You’re not only getting your groceries scanned when you shop at some Foodstuffs North Island supermarkets – the shop may also be scanning your face, Consumer NZ says.

The organisation said Foodstuffs North Island was the only major retailer in New Zealand using facial recognition technology on its customers.

Foodstuffs, which owns Pak’n Save, New World and Four Square, said 29 of its North Island stores used facial recognition technology (FRT). It said it was justified as a crime prevention measure to help keep its staff and customers safe.

FRT involves the identification of a person based on an analysis of their facial features. Artificial intelligence programmes identify and map facial features to create a face print, which is compared to those on a database to find a match.

Consumer NZ chief executive Jon Duffy said the organisation was ‘‘seriously concerned’’ New Zealander shoppers were having their biometric information collected and analysed.

‘‘These shoppers may not know it is happening or understand the potential consequences of their data being collected in this way.’’

A Foodstuffs spokesperson said after a 31% increase in the rates of theft, burglary, robbery, assault and other aggressive, violent and threatening behaviour across its stores, Foodstuffs North Island was undertaking a trial of facial recognition technology at some stores to help keep its staff and customers safe.