Sainsbury's to trial facial recognition to catch shoplifters

Sainsbury's is to start a trial this week in two stores in Bath and London

Sainsbury's is planning to introduce facial recognition technology across its supermarkets in a bid to identify shoplifters.

The UK's second largest supermarket has begun an eight-week trial in two stores as part of a crackdown on the crime, which has increased sharply in recent years.

"The retail sector is at a crossroads, facing rising abuse, anti-social behaviour and violence," said Sainsbury's chief executive Simon Roberts. "We must put safety first."

However, privacy campaigners described the project as "deeply disproportionate and chilling", urging the supermarket chain to abandon its plans.

Sainsbury's is working with facial recognition business Facewatch and will start using the technology this week at one shop in London and another in Bath ahead of a potential nationwide roll out.

Facewatch is used in numerous retailers in the UK - including Budgens, Sports Direct and Costcutter - to identify shoplifters.

But the use of facial recognition in shops has been heavily criticised with campaigners and MPs calling for a ban.

Sainsbury's, which has more than 1,400 shops across the country, said the plans were "not about monitoring" staff or customers, but to create "safe, secure and welcoming environments".

Bosses said the technology would be used to help identify and potentially ban people who are "violent, aggressive or steal in the store", but records would be instantly deleted if the software does not recognise the face of reported individuals.

Madeleine Stone, senior advocacy officer at privacy group BigBrotherWatch, said: "Sainsbury's decision to trial Orwellian facial recognition technology in its shops is deeply disproportionate and chilling.

"Sainsbury's should abandon this trial and the government must urgently step in to prevent the unchecked spread of this invasive technology."

Sainsbury's said incidents of theft, abuse and threatening behaviour "continue to rise" despite working with the police and government, adding that it is "affecting Sainsbury's teams across the UK daily".

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), there were 530,643 shoplifting offences in the year to March, an increase of 20% on the previous 12 months.

Mr Roberts said: "We have listened to the deep concerns our colleagues and customers have and they're right to expect us to act.

"We understand that facial recognition technology can raise valid questions about data and privacy."

Crime and Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson said the Home Office was working with businesses to tackle retail crime "head-on" and was looking into "passing new laws to protect retail workers from abuse".

Joanne Thomas, general secretary of the USDAW union, welcomed Sainsbury's approach.

She said: "We look forward to seeing the results of the trial of facial recognition software and will continue to work closely with Sainsbury's to support a responsible, evidence-led approach to tackling retail crime."