Briscoe Group is trialling facial recognition technology (FRT) at some of its stores to, it says, ensure the safety of customers and staff.

The trial aims to reduce the recurrence of in-store harmful incidents, according to the group. It will take place at 18 Briscoes and Rebel Sport stores and run for up to six months.

“We have seen a significant increase within stores in relation to assault (physical and verbal) and other aggressive, violent and threatening behaviour towards our team members and/or customers,” the group said.

“We consider this type of behaviour as a harmful behaviour incident, and where a person has been involved in such incidents, they will be trespassed and added as a person of interest to our FRT database,” it added.

The technology will use cameras to capture the facial features of anyone entering the store, then create a biometric code and compare it to a database of individuals who have previously been involved in a harmful behaviour incident.

If no match is found, the image of the person entering will be automatically deleted, the group said. 

“We take the privacy of our customers very seriously, and we have been keeping this at the forefront of our FRT trial,” Briscoe noted.

“We have reviewed our solution against both the NZ Privacy Act and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner’s proposed Biometrics Processing Privacy Code to ensure compliance with their requirements.”

According to the group, FRT systems are subject to strict access controls. No images or biometric codes of minors, vulnerable people, or non-offenders will be captured and saved in the FRT systems and database.

Last October, Foodstuffs South Island also launched a three-month trial of FRT across three Christchurch stores.