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The recent introduction of facial recognition technology at four Fairway Market locations in New York City as well as two ShopRite locations in Connecticut shows retailers remain intrigued about the potential of the technology as an anti-theft tool despite privacy concerns.
The attention comes as NRF’s 2022 National Retail Security Survey found organized retail crime incidents rose 26.5% in 2021. In New York City, the NYPD found that of its 22,000 shoplifting arrests last year, 30% were repeat offenders.
At the ShopRite and Fairway Market locations adding the technology, in-store signage alerts shoppers that their biometric identifier information is being collected for security purposes. The images help store personnel search for matches of individuals wanted for infractions across a shared database with other retailers.
In a statement attained by WFSB, a television station in Hartford, Connecticut, ShopRite said retailers have long used video surveillance, and advances in this technology can help identify repeat offenders. ShopRite stated, “We want our associates and customers to know that we are using this technology responsibly in an effort to ensure the safety of our working and shopping environment.”
ShopRite insisted the video footage collected is regularly erased, not sold, and only shared with law enforcement when crimes happen.
Fairway said in a statement, "Retail theft and shoplifting has a high rate of repeat offense and drives up grocery costs for all customers."
A recent New York Times article notes that in the United Kingdom, where facial recognition surveillance is more prevalent, guidelines have been put in place to ensure stores post adequate signage, only share information about serious and violent offenders, and only send alerts about repeat offenders.
Privacy concerns are often countered by the notion that many consumers regularly use facial technology to unlock their mobile phones and for other purposes, and they’re already being extensively recorded in public. Christopher Herrmann, an associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told Fox 5 New York, “There are plenty of cameras now. Whenever you go to the ATM, there's a camera. The only difference now is that they're starting to put those recordings together.”