Facial recognition errors leave UK shoppers without clear answers

People wrongly accused of shoplifting by facial recognition technology described public confrontations and difficulty finding out who was responsible at a House of Commons event earlier this week.

The event, sponsored by civil liberties group Big Brother Watch and attended by Labour MP Dr Allison Gardner, brought together people who said they had been wrongly flagged at shops. Their accounts included being stopped at store entrances or tills, and one person said their face appeared on an overhead screen. The source says one woman was intercepted after the system identified people walking behind her.

Big Brother Watch invited Facewatch, which provides the technology, and Sainsbury’s, which is introducing facial recognition in 200 stores. Neither sent representatives. Facewatch said it had considered the invitation seriously but cited concerns about the event’s balance. It offered to answer questions after the session.

Facewatch said it takes responsibility for its technology and processes, while retailers are responsible for how staff interact with customers. It said legal liability depends on the facts and that it starts a safeguarding process with retailers after a false alert. Sainsbury’s and Home Bargains did not respond to TechRadar’s requests for comment. Booker Group, which owns Budgens, declined to comment on the record.

At a Sainsbury’s store in south London, TechRadar found no viable way to opt out and reported that security staff had little information about how the system works. The article describes affected shoppers as lacking a clear route to challenge mistaken alerts.