The trial, which is taking place in five Greater Manchester stores, involves CCTV being used to scan customer faces against an internal watchlist
The trial, which is taking place in five Greater Manchester stores, involves CCTV being used to scan customer faces against an internal watchlist
Asda has reportedly been hit with thousands of complaints over its new facial recognition trial. The trial, which is being conducted in five stores across Greater Manchester, involves the use of CCTV to scan shoppers’ faces against an internal watchlist.
The Grocer reports that this watchlist consists of individuals who Asda staff suspect have been involved in “theft, violence and/or fraud in Asda stores”. Importantly, those on the list may not have even been convicted of any crime.
The trade magazine now reveals that over 5,000 complaint emails have been sent to Asda as part of a campaign by Big Brother Watch. Madeleine Stone, Big Brother Watch’s senior advocacy officer, stated: “Asda is adding customers to a secret watchlist with no due process, meaning people could be blacklisted from their local shop 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.”
Asda did not respond to The Grocer – however, when the facial recognition trial was launched, the supermarket said it was due to rising number of thefts in store and threats of violence against workers. Asda saw more than 1,400 assaults against staff and crime last year, reports the Mirror.
Liz Evans, Asda’s chief commercial officer in non-food and retail, commenting on the worrying trends in retail crime, said: “The rise in shoplifting and threats and violence against shopworkers in recent years is unacceptable and as a responsible retailer we have to look at all options to reduce the number of offences committed in our stores and protect our colleagues.
“We consistently look for new ways to improve the security in our stores and this trial will help us understand if facial recognition technology can reduce the number of incidents and provide greater protection to everybody in our stores.”
Asda has partnered with FaiceTech to use facial recognition technology to tackle offences within its premises. The system echoes that used by other retailers such as Home Bargains, Southern Co-op, Budgens, and Costcutter, which utilises Facewatch tech to compare visuals with a shared nationwide database.
This initiative from Asda follows their announcement to launch multiple new local format shops. The brand aims to inaugurate 25 new Asda Express stores from June up until the festive season.
Funding for this expansion comes from TDR Capital and the Issa Brothers and represents a part of the supermarket chain’s broader strategy for revival following a fall in market share from 14.8 per cent to 12.5 per cent. Chairman Allan Leighton told the Telegraph, “Our job is to fix it – but not just to fix it. We have to build it, reset it, turn it into what it was.”
There are whispers that Asda is also concentrating efforts on repurposing former Co-op stores into new Asda Express locations.
