"In a ruling on Wednesday, the ART found Bunnings was entitled to use facial recognition for the limited purpose of combatting very significant retail crime and protecting their staff and customers from violence, abuse and intimidation within its stores. The [technology used by Bunnings] limited the impact on privacy so as not to be disproportionate when considered against the benefits of providing a safer environment for staff and customers in Bunnings stores, the tribunal said in its decision."
"The ART heard from two store managers from Box Hill and Broadmeadows about the extent of violence in their stores. This kind of threatening or abusive behaviour occurred every two to three days on average and caused team members to be visibly shaken and upset, the ART said of Box Hill manager Shawn Adam's evidence. He was, on a daily basis, extremely concerned for his team members and customers."
Bunnings deployed facial recognition across 62 stores in New South Wales and Victoria between January 2019 and November 2021 following a two-month trial in 2018. Hundreds of thousands of store visitors had their faces scanned and compared against facial images of hundreds of people banned from stores; non-matching images were deleted. The administrative review tribunal reversed a 2024 privacy commissioner ruling and found the company could use the technology for the limited purpose of combating very significant retail crime and protecting staff and customers. The tribunal found the technology's privacy impact was limited but held that customers were not properly notified. Tribunal testimony described frequent violent or abusive incidents in stores.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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