Bunnings, Kmart and The Good Guys using facial recognition technology to crack down on theft, Choice says

Bunnings, Kmart and The Good Guys have been using facial recognition technology in a bid to crack down on theft in-store, research by Choice says.

Based on that investigation, it said, the three appeared to be the only retailers among that group who were using the technology.

Guardian Australia also sought comment from the other retailers named in the investigation.

Businesses are generally allowed to use CCTV to photograph customers on their premises, but Choice has raised concerns that privacy law has not kept pace with advances in facial recognition technology.

A Choice survey released as part of the research found 78% of those surveyed had concerns about how their biometric data was being stored, while 75% were concerned companies might use the data to create customer profiles for marketing purposes.

Choice says it has notified the OIAC (Office of the Australian Information Commissioner) of its findings and asked it to determine whether the use of the technology is consistent with the Privacy Act.

Convenience store giant 7-Eleven last year disabled a feature in more than 700 in-store review tablets that the OAIC found had taken facial images of millions of customers who used the tablets to complete surveys without their consent. The company argued at the time that the images were used only to ensure multiple surveys were not conducted by the same person in one day and that it had destroyed the images.

Kieran Pender, a senior lawyer with the Human Rights Law Centre , said the increasing use of facial technology raised human rights concerns.

A spokesperson for the OAIC said it would consider the findings.