Privacy advocates poop on UK supermarket’s facial recognition system

A British supermarket chain’s use of facial recognition to detect potential shoplifters and protect staff from assault has raised alarm among privacy advocates. The Southern Co-op chain has installed the tech in more than 18 of its stores in England, according to Wired. The software, which is supplied by UK startup Facewatch, alerts staff when someone with a record of “theft or anti-social behavior” enters the shop. “It gives our teams time to decide on the best action which is incredibly important,” wrote Gareth Lewis, loss prevention officer at the Southern Co-op, in a blog post on the Facewatch website. “Our teams have been trained…

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