The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has opened investigations into the personal information handling practices of the two retail chains.
The Good Guys – owned by electronics and white goods retailer JB Hi-Fi – in late June paused the use of facial recognition technology in its stores while OAIC investigated.
“We don’t use it for marketing or customer-behaviour tracking, and we certainly don’t use it identify regular customers who enter our stores as Choice has suggested.”A Kmart spokeswoman also confirmed the use of the technology has been paused, and was only ever intended to prevent theft. “When facial recognition technology is used, it is actually collecting biometric information, so the markers of your face to create a unique face print, and that’s why it’s similar to basically collecting your fingerprint in that they can uniquely identify you in a way that they couldn’t just from your image ,” she said.
It is not the first time the OAIC has investigated companies over use of facial recognition technology. Last year convenience store group 7-Eleven was nailed for interfering with customers’ privacy by collecting sensitive biometric information without adequate notice or consent.all the face prints it collected and to stop using the technology.
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