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Coles and Woolworths Test Facial Recognition Technology

Supermarkets Coles and Woolworths are testing facial recognition technology to identify repeat violent offenders, raising privacy concerns.

17 August 2026Tagblick Newsdesk

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Archive photo: Coles and Woolworths Test Facial Recognition Technology — Archive photoPhoto: Delta News Hub · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0

Coles and Woolworths have confirmed the testing of facial recognition technology in their Australian supermarkets. The technology captures customer faces and matches them against databases to identify repeat violent offenders.

Consumer privacy advocates have expressed concerns over this development, highlighting that the use of such technology may contribute to the normalization of surveillance in public spaces. Experts warn that recording personal biometric data poses significant privacy dilemmas for shoppers.

While Coles and Woolworths state that they aim to enhance safety in their stores, the implications of collecting biometric data on privacy remain contentious among experts and advocacy groups.

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