Bunnings is standing firm that facial recognition cameras in stores would be a good solution in tackling a crime wave sweeping the country, with the retail giant claiming to be targeted by organised gangs stealing power tools.
The company maintains its stance despite the hardware chain previously being found to have violated Aussies’ privacy with its CCTV system.
Last year, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) announced Bunnings had breached shoppers’ rights by storing sensitive information captured by cameras at stores between 2018 and 2021. Bunnings appealed the OAIC’s decision in the Administrative Review Tribunal, and the Tribunal’s review is underway, it told Yahoo News.
However, as retail crime continues to soar, Robert Scott, the CEO of parent company Wesfarmers, said this week the hardware chain would consider looking at facial recognition technology again.
Retail crime has surged in the last two years. Source: 7News & Bunnings
Bunnings Managing Director, Michael Schneider, told Yahoo News it would be a tool used among others to help curb retail crime.
“Everyone deserves to feel safe at work or while out shopping,” he said.
“No one should be subjected to abuse, threats or physical violence simply for doing their job or going about their day. Alongside a range of tools including security guards, team safety cameras and training, we believe the responsible use of facial recognition technology can be an important tool to help keep teams and customers safe.”
Bunnings reports retail crime has grown by 50 per cent in the last two years, with 88 per cent of these incidents involving violence or aggression.
“Like many other retailers, we’ve seen an increase in violent and threatening incidents,” Schneider said.
In-store protection for retail workers is vital, expert says
While it’s a fine line between safeguarding workers and upholding customer privacy, consumer expert Gary Mortimer told Yahoo News that more definitely needs to be done to look after staff, and facial recognition technology could be the answer.
“My view is that any form of technology that keeps workers safe is vital,” he told Yahoo.
Mortimer said more than half of the incidents involving aggressive behaviour came from the same customers, meaning current procedures in place to safeguard staff aren’t working well enough. Clearer communication from Bunnings about the rollout of the cameras would be needed in order to get customers on side.
“Using AI vision to map customers who have been banned from the store and doing that in the blink of an eye would be good… At the moment, there’s no way to detect a customer coming into a store other than a team member recognising the customer, and there’s no evidence.
“By using this type of technology, these people can be instantaneously identified and reported to authorities. They can go, ‘right, you’ve been at three Bunnings stores in a matter of days’,” he said.
Gary said customer images should not be stored, just simply used to detect unwelcome customers who should be banned.
“People are convinced that their face is being stored somewhere. It’s not, but it’s understandable that people get nervous around these types of technologies.”
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