Grocery Outlet’s Facial Recognition Tool Is Drawing Privacy Complaints—and Some Shoppers Aren’t Coming Back
A trip to the grocery store is one of the most routine parts of the week: make a list, head to the usual spot, browse the aisles for deals, and circle back home to start cooking.
For most shoppers, the experience doesn’t carry much stress — even with security cameras overhead. Cameras are a familiar part of loss prevention, and being watched while deciding between two brands of salsa rarely feels like an invasion. After all, our phones collect far more personal data than a ceiling camera ever could.
Now, one grocery chain is using a more advanced version of that surveillance, and not every customer is comfortable with it.
Grocery Outlet, a discount chain that operates across 16 states and has more than 200 locations in the California market, has introduced AI-powered face-scanning cameras at the entrances of its Bay Area stores, according to Mission Local, a San Francisco-based news outlet.
A small sign near the door reads: “Face Matching Software being used for security and safety.”
The system is powered by SAFR Guard, a product from the AI company SAFR. It scans shoppers’ faces and compares them against a watchlist of people linked to shoplifting or other incidents. If the software identifies a match, it alerts the retailer, who can decide whether to intervene.
SAFR says images of customers who are not on the watchlist are deleted immediately. “It’s not about mass surveillance; it’s about targeted deployment,” SAFR president Charisse Jacques told Mission Local.
Under California’s Consumer Privacy Act, customers can ask SAFR to delete their image and request that it not be sold or shared. But the request can’t be made before the scan occurs — so the only guaranteed way to avoid being captured is to skip the store altogether.
Shopper reactions were mixed after Mission Local informed customers about the technology. Some were glad the face-scanning system meant fewer products locked behind security cases. Others were less forgiving.
“I don’t like that,” customer Alice York said. “That’s without my consent. I’m not coming here again. That’s a shame, too.”
Grocery Outlet isn’t the only chain using this type of technology. In January, the ACLU reported that Wegmans had deployed facial recognition at some stores, retained the data, and coordinated with law enforcement when people of interest were identified.
“At Wegmans, the safety of our customers and employees is a top priority,” the company said in a statement. “Like many retailers, we use cameras to help identify individuals who pose a risk to our people, customers, or operation. In a small fraction of our stores that exhibit an elevated risk, we have deployed cameras equipped with facial recognition technology. In New York City, we comply with local requirements by posting the mandated signage to notify customers about the technology.”
Rite Aid learned the hard way that silent deployment can backfire. The chain used facial recognition without telling its customers, which led to an FTC investigation and a five-year ban on the practice at its stores.
The broader debate over facial recognition in public spaces continues to play out across the country. Ban Facial Recognition, a privacy advocacy site, monitors the technology’s use on a U.S. map and tracks cities and states that have restricted or proposed restrictions on it.
For shoppers concerned about being scanned, the practical options are limited but real: check your state’s consumer privacy laws, ask customer service how facial images are stored and shared, or take your business somewhere else.
This story was originally published by TheStreet.