Privacy Commission: facial recognition technology not justified

The Privacy Commission says it is not yet convinced that facial recognition technology is a "justified and proportionate response" to combat retail crime. Retail NZ is calling for a coordinated and "sector-wide" rollout of the technology in a bid to cut down on repeat offences. Its latest survey found almost all respondents have experienced crime at their businesses in the past year, costing an estimated $2.6b. Supermarket giant Foodstuffs is set to begin a trial of the technology next month. Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster says such technology would see all customers scanned and compared to a watchlist, in order to identify a small number of people engaging in criminal or harmful behaviour. He speaks to Kathryn.