Foodstuffs South Island has launched a three-month trial of facial recognition technology across three Christchurch stores, pledging to uphold strict privacy safeguards as it assesses the system’s potential to improve safety.
Tim Donaldson, GM of retail, wholesale and property, said the trial supports the cooperative’s goal to protect its customers and staff from abuse or injury.
“We’re seeing some people repeatedly target our stores with serious, threatening behaviour, even after being trespassed,” he said.
“This trial will help us understand if facial recognition can help our teams identify repeat offenders so we can act quickly to prevent further harm.”
Privacy safeguards
Foodstuffs South Island says its technology is meant solely to deter violent or threatening incidents and has designed it to comply with New Zealand’s privacy laws.
Key measures include:
- Only trained personnel can add verified offenders to the watchlist.
- The system immediately deletes images of individuals who do not match the watchlist.
- Two team members manually review every alert before taking any action.
- The watchlist excludes all images of minors and vulnerable individuals.
The facial recognition system claims to achieve a minimum accuracy of 92.5 per cent.
How the system works
A specialist team will review incidents involving violence, threats, or aggression. Individuals confirmed to have engaged in such behaviour may be added to the watchlist.
When a person enters one of the participating stores, the system compares their image against the watchlist. If a potential match is detected, an alert is sent to staff for verification. Depending on the situation, staff may monitor the individual, contact the police, or ask them to leave.
Images of shoppers not on the watchlist are not retained.
Donaldson said Foodstuffs South Island has also published detailed information online outlining how the technology operates and the safeguards in place.
“We recognise some people may have questions about the use of facial recognition,” he added.
“That’s why we’ve made the process transparent and are open to addressing any concerns throughout the trial.”
The cooperative said it consulted the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and completed a full Privacy Impact Assessment before the trial begins tomorrow at New World St Martins, Pak’nSave Papanui, and Pak’nSave Moorhouse.
