As some supermarket retailers consider facial recognition trials in a bid to curb rising retail crime, an RMIT expert explains how retailers can balance protecting staff and shoppers with safeguarding consumer privacy.
Dr Jason Pallant, a Senior Lecturer at RMIT University and Director for RMIT’s Marketing Technology Lab says with retail crime on the rise, security in stores to protect shoppers and shopfront staff is critical.
“Cameras and facial recognition technology have a key role to play in that regard,” he said.
“However, it also creates a challenge and many questions for other visitors; why is their face being scanned, what happens to those recordings and data, how is consent given, and are children – who can’t legally consent – treated differently?
“It’s a really challenging space as we’ve seen retailers be criticised for not being transparent enough with their use of the tech.”
Last year Kmart and Bunnings were found to have breached shoppers’ privacy through their use of facial recognition technology.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) recently published updates to its guidance for Australian Privacy Principle (APP) entities that are considering using facial recognition technology (FRT) in high volume and publicly accessible physical spaces such as retail shopfronts.
Dr Pallant says there are issues around how the tech is used, but also how it is explained to consumers. “If consumers understood why this technology is used, how it works, and most importantly, how it can benefit them as shoppers – they may be more open to using it,” Dr Pallant said.
