New research has revealed how New Zealand consumers feel about using facial recognition (FR) in retail settings.
More than half of Kiwis have accepted using FR, even if its impact on reducing harm from retail crime incidents is minimal.
In February, Foodstuffs North Island (FSNI) started a trial of FR at 25 New World and PAK’nSAVE stores. The trial's objective was to determine if the technology could help stores identify repeat offenders and enhance the safety of staff and customers while respecting the privacy of everyone involved.
As part of the trial, FSNI commissioned a nationally representative survey to understand how New Zealanders feel about facial recognition used in retail stores.
Foodstuffs North Island General Counsel Julian Benefield said it was essential to understand what New Zealanders thought about FR to ensure any future decisions reflect customer attitudes.
"Keeping our team members and customers safe and well is always our top priority. At the same time, we’re committed to being one of the most customer-focused retailers in the world. That’s why it’s so important for us to understand how customers feel about the technology we use,” said Benefield.
“We’ve approached using facial recognition in a responsible way, particularly by ensuring that it’s only the first step in a process where our people always have the final say. Most of the shoppers surveyed didn’t have a problem with the use of facial recognition, despite potential impacts on privacy, if it can reduce harm to shoppers and retail staff and be used in the way that we have used it.”
The research also looked at customer experiences and how safe they felt, with most surveyed saying they’ve either witnessed or experienced some sort of harm when shopping in retail.
Sixty-three percent said they’ve seen others being physically assaulted, verbally abused or seen disorderly conduct when visiting a retail store, while 44 percent said they’ve personally experienced physical assaults, verbal abuse or been affected by others’ disorderly conduct.
FR matches the faces of people who enter a store against that store’s record of past offenders and accomplices. When the system detects a facial match with at least 90 percent accuracy, two specially trained team members are alerted, and both must confirm a match identification before the information can be acted on.
Independent analytics firm Scarlatti was appointed to monitor and evaluate FSNI’s six-month trial, further to the co-op’s engagement with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
Foodstuffs North Island is now awaiting the findings of the Privacy Commissioner’s public inquiry into its trial before deciding on its future use of FR across its stores.
