Asda denies receiving ‘thousands’ of complaints about facial recognition trial
Following the launch of its facial recognition trial in five of its UK stores, Asda has refuted claims it has received “thousands” of complaints about the trial.
At the end of March, Asda began trialling Live Facial Recognition at five stores in Greater Manchester in a bid to assess how the technology can be used to improve colleague and customer safety in store.
Amid an increasingly serious epidemic of retail crime, the retail giant recorded approximately 1400 assaults on colleagues last year, an average of four per day. Asda and other businesses are exploring new ways to combat the problem, one of which is trialling this facial recognition technology.
It is integrated into the retailer’s existing CCTV network, scanning images and comparing results to a known list of individuals who have previously committed criminal activity on an Asda site. If a match is found by the automated system, within seconds a member of Asda’s head office security team can conduct a check and feedback to the store in real time.
However, Asda’s use of the technology has come under scrutiny, with Big Brother Watch claiming it has garnered over 5000 complaints from shoppers.
On its website, it is calling on its subscribers to tell Asda to “stop spying on customers”, asking them to add their name and argument to their campaign.
However, in a statement to Grocery Gazette, Asda rejected the claim it has received thousands of complaints, stating it has received 89, with a spokesperson saying this is all the number of complaints they have received through any of its official email channels.
“Like all retailers, our stores are subject to increasing and unacceptable levels of retail crime and, on average, four Asda colleagues were assaulted at work every day last year,” said the spokesperson.
“We have launched this trial in five stores for a limited period to assess how it can keep colleagues and customers safe. This trial uses Asda’s existing CCTV system and fully complies with all data protection regulations.”
The trial is for an initial period of two months, with the results to be assessed before a decision is taken on whether to extend the trial or roll it out to further locations.
