Coles and Woolworths test facial recognition technology In short: Coles and Woolworths have tested facial recognition technology in a bid to combat retail crime. Neither of the supermarket giants have said if it would be rolled out in their Australian stores. It comes after Bunnings won a legal battle to monitor its customers with AI. Coles and Woolworths have conducted tests of facial recognition technology, but it is unclear if either supermarket will be implementing it in stores. It comes after the Australia Financial Review reported both Coles and Woolworths had trialled the technology as part of an ongoing effort to combat retail crime. The article said both supermarket giants had "conducted early testing" of the technology. When the ABC asked Coles about the potential of it being rolled out in stores, a spokesperson made a distinction between the use of the term "test" instead of "trial". "Coles has not done a trial using this technology," the spokesperson said. "A small, one-off, controlled proof-of-concept test of the technology was undertaken which did not use customer or team member information or data. "No decision has been made about the deployment of facial recognition technology." The spokesperson said Coles did not currently use facial recognition technology in stores. The ABC understands Woolworths tested the technology in its New Zealand office. A Woolworths spokesperson did not address the ABC's questions on how facial recognition technology was tested or if it would be used in Australia. "Keeping our team and customers safe is the most important thing we do and we've put significant investment towards this," the spokesperson said. "While our current safety initiatives are making a difference, we are still seeing a concerning amount of aggression and conflict incidents in our stores on a daily basis, including weapons being presented." Facial recognition technology