The Good Guys stores using facial recognition technology revealed

After initially denying it uses facial recognition technology, major retail chain The Good Guys has now revealed the stores fitted with new cameras that profile customers.

Major retail chain The Good Guys has revealed which of its stores have been fitted with new cameras that capture customers’ “faceprints”.

The Good Guys, which is owned by JB Hi-Fi, at first denied it was using facial recognition technology but managing director Biag Capasso on Thursday told The Daily Telegraph that initial claim was untrue, with trials recently commenced in Melbourne suburbs Maribyrnong and Brighton.

The trials began a few weeks ago and will run for up to five months to determine whether the cameras save more in theft and damage than they cost, Mr Capasso said.

The trial will also examine whether faceprints can help police in prosecuting shoplifters, he added.

Maribyrnong was chosen for reasons including that it has been a “smash and grab” hotspot, Mr Capasso said, while the Brighton store has been used successfully in the past for other trials.

Facial recognition may assist in police prosecutions. Picture: iStock

Mr Capasso said the faceprints would not be used for marketing purposes.

“It’s for the security and safety of our team and customers as well as theft control,” he said.

A notice outside Kmart Marrickville in Sydney. Picture: Choice

“We are not interested in where customers are going and what they are doing.”

The details of The Good Guys’ facial recognition trial emerged after a Choice investigation named the chain as one of three big retailers using the technology in Australia.

The other two were Bunnings and Kmart, which confirmed they were collecting faceprints.

But The Good Guys denied they were.

In preparing a story on Choice’s investigation on Tuesday, The Daily Telegraph sent written questions to The Good Guys’ media email address. There was no phone number to call.

Choice is concerns shoppers don’t realise some shops are using facial recognition technology. Picture: iStock

There was no official response prior to deadline but The Good Guys’ marketing team did ring The Telegraph’s owner, News Corp Australia, to falsely claim the chain did not have facial recognition technology in any store.

Mr Capasso said this should not have happened.

“I apologise,” he said. “It’s not good practice. We will take steps to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

He also said the marketing team did not actually know whether the tech was in stores, which made the false claim even worse.

Choice raised concerns that most customers had no idea that facial recognition technology was in use.

It also questioned whether the warnings outside stores were prominent enough.

Mr Capasso said The Good Guys would reconsider where its signs were placed as well as the size of the writing on them.

It may also add a more prominent disclosure to its website if the trials lead to the technology becoming a fixture in more of its 106 stores.

“We don’t want to trick customers,” he said.