Alarm raised over ‘privacy dilemma’ of facial recognition technology at Coles and Woolworths

Published August 17, 2026 · Category: News

Overview

Supermarkets say they are exploring ways to keep people safe, but experts claim the tech is ‘normalising surveillance’

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Consumer privacy advocates have responded with alarm after Coles and Woolworths confirmed they were testing facial recognition technology that they could use in their Australian supermarkets to record shoppers’ personal biometric data.

Details

The supermarket giants on Monday confirmed they had tested the technology and said they were considering installing it in their Australian stores to crack down on retail crime including aggression towards staff.

Source

Originally published at www.theguardian.com.

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