Bunnings has never used facial recognition to track customers – only violent intruders

As the person privileged to lead almost 55,000 Bunnings team members across Australia and New Zealand, my top priority is to ensure all of them arrive home from work each day safe and well. It’s the same for our customers. We work hard to earn their trust and loyalty, especially by creating a safe and welcoming environment in our stores.

So when I keep hearing and seeing footage of my teammates being shouted at, spat on, punched, kicked and threatened with hammers, knives and even shotguns, I take that to heart. Every team member has a life outside Bunnings and we want them to be happy and healthy.

Whether it’s a 15-year-old girl starting her first job, or our most experienced team members in their 80s or even 90s, no one deserves to face abuse or violence in the workplace – or anywhere else. It’s not just the abuse itself but the deep and lasting emotional and physical impacts that violent and aggressive behaviour has on frontline workers which must be considered.

That is why Bunnings introduced facial-recognition technology: to identify known repeat offenders and people previously banned from our stores. As has been reported this week, we are seeking a review of the privacy commissioner’s determination that our use of FRT is a breach customers’ privacy. We deeply respect the role that the commissioner plays to protect the personal information of everyday Australians. But we disagree on this occasion. We believe we have struck a balance that protects our staff and customers.

I believe the Herald’s editorial on Wednesday – “The hardware and garden chain where customers are always wrong” – trivialises the very real and genuine issues facing my team and, for that matter, all of our customers.

Retail crime across all sectors, both organised and opportunistic, is on the rise. For the 12 months ending April 2024, there were about 700,000 retail crime events recorded by Australian retailers. Sixteen per cent of those involved threatening or violent behaviour.

Last year alone, we saw a 50 per cent increase in abuse, threats and assaults in our stores. This is why laws in many jurisdictions are changing, specifically recognising this threat. I’m surprised that Bunnings is drawing criticism from the Herald for exercising rights that form the cornerstone of our justice system.

When we trialled FRT at a limited number of Bunnings stores in NSW and Victoria between 2018 and 2021, we had strict controls around its use. Its sole intent was to keep team members and customers safe and prevent unlawful activities. We believed we operated within a permitted general exemption, but took steps to update store signage to reflect the use of FRT during the trial.

We believe it provides the fastest and most accurate way of identifying repeat offenders and people banned from our stores. The electronic data was never used for marketing purposes or to track customer behaviour. The data we collected of the vast majority of people was processed and deleted in 0.00417 seconds – or less than the blink of an eye. It was kept only if it matched a specific database of people known to us, or banned from our stores for abusive, violent behaviour or criminal conduct. The notion that this constitutes data collection deserves to be tested before the courts.

Critically, the trial demonstrated that FRT was effective in creating a safer environment for our team members and customers. Stores participating in the trial had a clear reduction of crime incidents compared with stores without the technology. Adding it to our wider security and safety toolkit was reasonable and proportionate.

The pace of technological advance, including FRT, is something that regulators, legislators and businesses worldwide are grappling with. It as an important part of an array of tools retailers are using, with signs of success in trials in Europe and New Zealand. CCTV and FRT have become a part of everyday life, at airports, railway stations, banks, concerts, sports venues and in cities. There’s no doubt that privacy concerns need to be balanced, but the technology is critical to reducing retail crime and harm to our team and customers.

We take this responsibility seriously. As we seek a review of the privacy commissioner’s determination before the Administrative Review Tribunal, we are also talking to federal, state and territory leaders, industry peers and associations to try to bring legislation and regulation up to speed with the ever-increasing range of technologies that can help turn the tide on retail crime and violence.

In the meantime, I’ll be making sure my 55,000-plus Bunnings family know we have their backs and that our customers are as safe and secure as they can be.

Michael Schneider is managing director of Bunnings.

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