‘Shady practice’: Kmart face-scanning breaches privacy
Retail Giant KMART was called to ollest fast and loose play ”with the confidentiality of customers by scanning the faces of non -aware shops in dozens of stores.
Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind violated the company after collecting people’s personal and sensitive information through a facial recognition technology (FRT) system designed to combat the refund fraud.
Between June 2020 and July 2022, KMART used technology in 28 stores to capture everyone who entered and used it again when they lined up on a return bench.
The pilot program included stores in all Australian states and regions except the North region and Tazmania.
The commissioner said on Thursday, “in relation to a technology such as face recognition, the public interest in the protection of privacy,” he said.
“(KMART), I don’t think he may have believed that the benefits of addressing the refund fraud on the privacy of individuals in proportion to the privacy of individuals.”
Kmart, who shops millions of Australians every month, argued that it is not necessary to obtain customer permission due to exemption from the Privacy Law, which allows information to be collected to deal with illegal activity or serious abuse.
However, after a three -year investigation, the commissioner’s face recognition system was “randomly gathered ın of each individual entering a store found sensitive biometric information.
Mrs. Kind, refund, other lessons for the fraud, there are fewer inspector methods, he said.
The commissioner said that the volumes of biometric data collected on thousands of individuals show a “confidentiality disproportionate intervention”.
In 2019, Roy Morgan found that one -fifth Australians shop for home products and went to KMART, which underlined the gigantic customer base in more than 300 stores.
The Digital Rights Monitoring Organization praised the turning point to declare businesses.
He called facial surveillance “shaded practice ..
“This was a major retailer for the first time with the privacy of the Australians,” he said.
“We need to be able to go to shops without gathering our biometric information by large companies.”
KMART has been ordered not to use the face recognition technology and will have to publish an apology to customers in the stores and website within 30 days.
The Wesfarmers’ company said that technology was disappointed with the decision on the “limited trial” and reviewed the options for objection.
In a statement, an increasing reimbursement of the program aimed at cope with the problem of fraud during the program to protect the privacy of customers, he said.
“Images only matched the image of a person who is interestingly suspected or known to be a refund fraud.” He said.
The company said it paused the hearing when the Privacy Commissioner started to investigate.
The detection is the second published by the Australian Information Commissioner Office for the use of face recognition in retail environments.
In October, the Wesfarmers’s hardware chain Bunings was found to be contrary to the privacy of shoppers in 62 stores. Also the finding is attractive.
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