Simon Mackenzie, a security officer at QD Stores near London, found himself out of breath after he chased down three shoplifters. Determined to bring them to justice, he immediately went to a back-room desk to perform a crucial task – capturing the culprits’ faces. Using an aging desktop computer, he reviewed the security camera footage, zoomed in, and saved photos of each thief. To identify them, he turned to Facewatch, a facial recognition program used by his store. If these individuals were to enter any other shop in the area that used Facewatch, the store staff would receive an alert.
According to Mackenzie, Facewatch is like having a constant companion who spots familiar faces and alerts you. This technology has gained significant scrutiny in law enforcement circles, but its application by private businesses has received less attention. With advancements in technology and decreasing costs, facial recognition is making its way into various aspects of people’s lives. Beyond government agencies, businesses are increasingly utilizing facial recognition to identify shoplifters, problematic customers, and even legal adversaries.
One such company is Facewatch, a British firm that helps retailers combat petty crimes. By paying as little as £250 a month, businesses gain access to a customized watchlist shared among nearby stores. When Facewatch identifies a flagged face, it sends an alert to the shop’s smartphone, allowing employees to decide whether to monitor the person closely or ask them to leave. Mackenzie regularly adds one or two new faces of shoplifters to the watchlist every week, primarily those who steal inexpensive items like diapers, groceries, and pet supplies. Although he sympathizes with their economic hardships, the scale of thefts necessitated the use of facial recognition technology. Facewatch alerts him at least once a day when someone on the watchlist enters his store.
As facial recognition technology becomes more prevalent due to advancements in artificial intelligence, Western countries are grappling with its implications. The European Union is developing rules to restrict many uses of facial recognition, while the mayor of New York City encourages retailers to implement it for crime prevention. Retailers in Britain, in particular, have embraced live facial recognition technology, experimenting with its use to identify wanted criminals on the streets. It has even been deployed at major events, such as the coronation of King Charles III. However, critics argue that its use in retail disproportionately addresses minor crimes, whereas individuals have limited knowledge of their inclusion on watchlists or how to dispute it.
Facewatch’s origins can be traced back to 2010 when it was founded by Simon Gordon, the owner of a renowned wine bar popular among pickpockets. Initially, Gordon sought to develop an online tool to share security camera footage with authorities to streamline incident reporting and increase arrests. However, limited interest prompted him to delve deeper into security technology. He closely followed developments in facial recognition and came up with the idea of a watchlist that retailers could collectively contribute to and benefit from. This watchlist, comprising photos of shoplifters and problematic customers, operates like a supercharged version of the traditional register kept next to store counters, enabling real-time identification of wrongdoers.
By 2018, Gordon believed that facial recognition technology had advanced enough for commercial use. Facewatch, in collaboration with Real Networks and Amazon, deploys facial recognition software trained on millions of images and videos. When a person walks into a shop, the system reads their facial biometric information and cross-references it with a database of flagged individuals. As stores continue to upload photos, Facewatch’s watchlist grows, with each person remaining on the list for a year before being deleted.
Every time Facewatch identifies a shoplifter, a “super recognizer” designated by the company receives a notification. These individuals possess exceptional memory and expertise in recognizing faces. Within seconds, the super recognizer must confirm the match against the Facewatch database before an alert is sent. However, despite the company’s efforts to prevent misidentification and errors, mistakes occasionally occur.
One such incident took place in Bristol, England, where a woman buying milk was mistakenly accused of being a barred shoplifter based on Facewatch’s identification. After the woman contacted Facewatch, they apologized and acknowledged the error. Upon digging into their records, they discovered that the woman had been added to the watchlist due to a previous incident involving a small amount of merchandise worth £20. While the technology correctly recognized the woman, it left little room for human discretion. Neither Facewatch nor the store contacted her to inform her of her inclusion on the watchlist or to investigate the incident further.
Critics like Madeleine Stone from Big Brother Watch argue that Facewatch is “normalizing airport-style security checks” for everyday activities and raise concerns about potential violations of British privacy law. The U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office conducted an investigation into Facewatch and determined that it complied with the law after certain operational changes were implemented. These changes included increased signage in stores, sharing information about serious offenders only among stores, and alerts being generated only for repeat offenders. As a result, individuals will no longer be added to the watchlist for minor offenses. Liam Ardern, the operations manager for Lawrence Hunt, a company that uses Facewatch, believes that the privacy risks associated with facial recognition are exaggerated and views the technology as a highly effective security measure.
While privacy concerns persist, facial recognition technology continues to evolve and permeate various aspects of society. As Fraser Sampson, Britain’s biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner, noted: “Facial recognition technology can, in some areas, be a game changer.” It seems the arrival and widespread deployment of facial recognition are only a matter of time.
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