Frozen Foods Supermarket Chain Deploys Facial Recognition Tech

Privacy campaigners are branding frozen food retailer Iceland’s decision to trial facial recognition technology (FRT) at several stores “chilling” – the UK supermarket chain says it’s deploying the cameras to cut down on crime.

The pilot is already in operation at two stores in England: the Food Warehouse outlet in Manningham Lane, Bradford, and an Iceland shop in Salford, Greater Manchester. A further four branches are to be added to the roster by October with even more to come.

The FRT is provided by Facewatch and currently deployed by other retailers including House of Fraser, Sports Direct, and Home Bargains. The camera is hooked up to a database of people suspected of committing a crime on previous visits to any Facewatch customer’s stores.

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If a suspect is spotted, employees at the stores are notified. The face of the shopper is deleted if a match is not made with the images of suspects that the retailers have previously uploaded.

Iceland CEO Richard Walker claimed on LinkedIn that he will “do anything and everything to help protect our customers.”

“Organized and targeted retail crime is out of control. Every single week I see the reports from our stores and read about our colleagues being abused, threatened, and assaulted simply for doing their job,” he added.

He said the technology does “not monitor innocent shoppers. It does not store your data. It helps trained store teams calmly identify repeat offenders who are known to use violence or intimidation. That is it.”

Iceland is estimating a 30 percent reduction in violent incidents. According to the CEO, theft and damage drive up prices, hitting the “most vulnerable customers hardest.”

Jake Hurfurt, head of research and investigations at Big Brother Watch, said:

The campaign group pointed to an incident reported earlier this month when a shopper was blacklisted in a store that uses Facewatch after being wrongly accused of stealing paracetamol. She was asked to leave the store the next time she returned, and subsequently complained to the ICO.

“Facial recognition has no basis in law and has never been voted on in Parliament, but the UK is facing an explosion in the Orwellian technology as both businesses and police take advantage of a legal wild west. Iceland should abandon this rollout and put its customers’ privacy first, and the government must act to rein in the unchecked expansion of this intrusive technology,” Hurfurt added.

Walker at Iceland agreed that “some people will not like” the use of FRT, “but I make zero apologies for it,” he said in response to Big Brother Watch.

“If I have to choose between upsetting a campaign group or protecting our colleagues from violence, I will pick our people every time,” he added.

Facewatch CEO Nick Fisher, commenting on Walker’s LinkedIn post, said: “We are proud to stand with responsible retailers like Iceland and the many other partners who have placed their trust in Facewatch, as we work together to keep our frontline retail colleagues safe and protected in these unprecedented times.”

A spokesperson for the Information Commissioner’s Office told us:

“Facial recognition technology (FRT) can help retailers detect and prevent crime and has clear benefits in the public interest. However, its use must be necessary and proportionate, and these benefits must not outweigh people’s fundamental right to privacy.

“All retailers should carefully consider any use of FRT on their premises and ensure compliance with data protection law. The right checks and balances must be in place to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the personal information they collect. We continue to monitor the use of FRT across the economy to ensure it remains lawful, transparent and proportionate.” ®

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