The retail stores making scans of your face

Did you know that these retailers use facial recognition technology in their stores?

Most customers don't know that these retailers use facial recognition technology. 

A number of Australian retail giants create "faceprints" of customers as they walk around their stores.

Kmart, Bunnings and The Good Guys use in-store video systems to scan the faces of customers, according to a study by consumer advocacy organisation Choice.

Yet, most people have no idea the technology is being used.

Kmart and Bunnings display small, physical signs about "facial recognition technology" at the entrance to their stores, which are easily missed, while The Good Guys only include their "facial and feature recognition technology" in an online privacy policy.

The Choice looked at Australia's 25 biggest retailers.

Choice consumer data advocate Kate Bower said it was akin to Kmart, Bunnings or The Good Guys "collecting your fingerprints or DNA every time you shop".

She said the biometric data collection was "a completely inappropriate and unnecessary use of the technology" and called it "invasive" and "unethical".

Based on over 1000 responses, Choice found three in four consumers had no idea retailers were capturing their "faceprints" and were worried about how these companies would store the information. 

Most people also wanted retailers to properly inform customers about their facial recognition technology.

A sign at the entrance of Kmart called "conditions of entry" said in its fourth paragraph "This store has 24 hour CCTV coverage, which includes facial recognition technology". 

“Discreet signage and online privacy policies are not nearly enough to adequately inform shoppers that this controversial technology is in use,” Ms Bower said.

“The technology is capturing highly personal data from customers, including infants and children.”

It comes seven months after 7-Eleven breached Australia's Privacy Act by using tablet computers to scan customers' faces without clearly warning their customers. The data was then shared with a third party. The OAIC ruled they had "interfered with the privacy of individuals by collecting facial images and faceprints".

Why are businesses using this technology?

Bunnings chief operating officer Simon McDowell told Choice the facial recognition technology was in place to prevent theft and anti-social behaviour.

"At selected stores our CCTV systems utilise facial recognition technology, which is used to help identify persons of interest who have previously been involved in incidents of concern in our stores," he said. 

In a separate statement, McDowell said they had started using the technology following "an increase in the number of challenging interactions our team have had to handle in our stores".

He said there were "strict controls" around the use of the technology and that "this technology is not used for marketing, consumer behaviour tracking and images of children are never enrolled".