Southern Co-op facial recognition accused of violating customer privacy

UK retail chain Southern Co-op was accused by a prominent c ivil liberties group of viol ating the privacy of its customers through its use of facial recognition. Big Brother Watch (BBW) filed a legal complaint with the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) alleg ing the Southern Co-op and its facial recognition syste m provider Facewatch processed more data than necessary for generating and storing watchlist entries, and that the two entities lacked transparency about how they collec ted and processed people’s data. Despite Southern Co-op stating that 'distinctive s ignage' is on display in the relevant stores, r ights groups argued the chain failed to inform customers sufficiently clearly nor made a meaningful general public announcement before the trials started. BBW also argued t hat i ndividuals we re not informed when they we re added to the Co-op and Facewatch's databases, despite the chance they could be innocent . It went to accuse Southern Co-op of providing little visible information on what data is stored, how it is stored, the length of storage, and with whom it may be shared, including the police , and not making clear how individuals can have appeal against having their data stored. ➕ March 2023. The ICO concluded that Facewatch has a legitimate interest in using personal data for crime detection and prevention, but expressed concerns about some of its practices. Facewatch responded by making improvements, including reducing the amount of personal data collected . ➕ June 2024. An innocent shopper at retail chain Home Bargains was wrongfully accused of theft due to a Facewatch error , prompting public controversy and a legal complaint. System 🤖 Facewatch facial recognition Operator: So uthern Co-op Developer: Facewatch Country: UK Sector: Retail Purpose: Identify criminals Technology: Facial recognition Issue: Privacy; Transparency Regulation ⚖️ Data Protection Act 2018 Legal, regulatory 👩🏼‍⚖️ Information Commissioner's Office (2023). Balancing people’s privacy rights with the need to prevent crime Big Brother Watch/AWO (2023). GROUNDS OF COMPLAINT TO THE INFORMATION COMMISIONER UNDER SECTION 165 OF THE DATA PROTECTION ACT 2018 - LIVE AUTOMATED FACIAL RECOGNITION BY FACEWATCH LTD AND THE SOUTHERN COOPERATIVE LTD (pdf)

Date it happened

2022-07-01

Organisation involved

Southern Co-op

Product, system or model

Facewatch FR

This is a record of what was reported, not a finding that anyone broke the law. If it names your organisation and you believe it is wrong, the corrections process is free and open to everyone.