Supermarket duopoly tests facial recognition
Coles and Woolworths have conducted tests of facial recognition technology that they could use in their Australian supermarkets to combat crime, although it is not clear whether they will implement it fully.
Dr Jason Pallant, a marketing expert at RMIT University, said the trials posed a “security versus privacy dilemma” (The Guardian).
Tom Sulston, the head of policy at Digital Rights Watch, flagged that facial recognition was “wildly inaccurate”, and also raised concerns that Coles and Woolworths wouldn’t be able to control the way their biometric data was used (The Guardian).
Both Coles and Woolworths say they have not decided whether to deploy the technology after the trials. “Keeping our team and customers safe is the most important thing we do, and we’ve put significant investment towards this,” a Woolworths spokesman said (AFR).
The testing revelations follow hardware chain Bunnings’ legal battle win earlier this year that allowed it to monitor its customers with artificial intelligence (ABC).