Sainsbury's staff eject wrong shopper after facial recognition alert – again
Facewatch says its technology worked as intended before humans mishandled the result
UK supermarket chain Sainsbury's temporarily halted live facial recognition (LFR) technology at one of its locations after staff mistakenly removed a customer, Matt Arnold, in response to an alert. This is the second incident of this nature to occur this year. Arnold was ejected from the East Dulwich, London store on August 6 after responding to a Facewatch LFR alert, which staff believed was flagging him as a suspected thief.
Arnold, a comedy promoter, was using a self-service checkout and attempting to purchase alcohol when the managers approached him, refused service, and escorted him out, claiming he was linked to an earlier incident. He was told he had been identified by the AI system and the cameras had flagged him. Sainsbury's stated the ejection was due to human error, not a faulty facial recognition system, and apologized to Arnold.
Facewatch, the company supplying the LFR technology, also denied any fault, noting that the correct alert was sent and every match is reviewed by a trained manager. The supermarket is set to expand its LFR use to 200 stores by year-end, aiming to curb shoplifting, while other retailers, including B&M, Budgens, and Costcutter, have also experimented with the technology.
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