Retailers Adopt Facewatch Facial Recognition to Combat Shoplifting Amid Rising Incidents
Retailers including Sainsbury's, Budgens, and Sports Direct have adopted Facewatch, a cloud-based facial recognition system that scans customers entering stores and flags matches against a database of known offenders to alert staff.
In the year to June, UK shoplifting offences rose by 13% to nearly 530,000, with about 80% of incidents reported in August resulting in no charge. Additionally, there are over 2,000 daily incidents of violence or abuse against retail staff.
Retailers report that police response is stretched, leading them to deploy private security technology like Facewatch to deter theft and enhance employee safety. For example, Ruxley Manor Garden Centre in south London experiences shoplifting losses of about 1.5% of turnover, noting that theft is increasingly brazen and a risk to staff safety.
However, civil liberties groups have warned that this technology risks violating privacy rights. Silkie Carlo from Big Brother Watch described Facewatch as a dangerous privatised policing tool and raised concerns about misidentification.
One known mis-target case involved Rennea Nelson, who was wrongly flagged at a B&M store and threatened with police action, risking her immigration status. The retailer apologised and described the incident as a rare human error.
Facewatch's chief executive Nick Fisher defended the system, stating that data is stored only for known repeat offenders, complies with UK GDPR, and is used proportionately. He emphasised that when managed responsibly, the system can be a force for good.
