Big Brother Watch condemns Asda’s facial recognition trial in Greater Manchester

Supermarket Asda has announced today that it is launching a two-month trial of live facial recognition at five of its shops in Greater Manchester. The technology, provided by FaceTech, will be integrated into the stores’ existing CCTV networks.

Customers’ faces are automatically scanned against a watchlist, compiled by Asda, looking for similarities to CCTV images held by the company. Asda confirmed that it does not receive photos from the police. The company collects still images from in-store CCTV of individuals staff suspect may be involved in “theft, violence and/or fraud in Asda stores”, though they may not be convicted of any crime.

F​acial recognition has already resulted in innocent people being falsely accused of shoplifting. In one case, a teenage girl in Manchester was wrongly flagged as a suspected shoplifter by automated facial recognition cameras, searched, publicly thrown out of the store and told by staff that she was a thief and banned from shops and supermarkets up and down the country.

COMMENTS

Big Brother Watch’s Senior Advocacy Officer Madeleine Stone:

“Asda’s decision to deploy Orwellian facial recognition technology in its shops is deeply disproportionate and chilling. Facial recognition surveillance turns shoppers into suspects, by subjecting customers browsing the supermarket aisles to a series of biometric identity checks.

Asda is adding customers to secret watchlists with no due process, meaning people could be blacklisted despite being innocent. Facial recognition has well-documented issues with accuracy and bias, and has already led to distressing and embarrassing cases of innocent shoppers being publicly branded as shoplifters.

Facial recognition is dangerously out of control in the UK. Asda should abandon this trial and the government must urgently step in to prevent the uncheckered spread of this invasive technology.”

NOTES

• Spokespeople are available for interview – please contact 07730439257 or [email protected].
• The technology will deployed in Ashton, Chadderton, Eastlands, Harpurhey & Trafford Park stores.
• Big Brother Watch is at the forefront of the UK campaign to stop live facial recognition surveillance – our campaign page, with details of our latest research and investigations is available at StopFacialRecognition.org.

ENDS

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