Sainsbury's aims to implement facial recognition systems in 200 stores by Christmas.
The system is already in use at 40 locations across the UK as part of a successful trial, where it is used to "help trained colleagues identify known offenders involved in violence, aggression or theft".
The initial trial in two stores from September 2025 — January 2026 saw a 46% reduction in shoplifting, violence, aggression and antisocial behaviour; Sainsbury's reports that since the expanded rollout 90% of those identified and banned through the system did not return.
While there are those with concerns over privacy for shoppers, Sainsbury's say that signs will make it clear where this technology is being used, and only images of known offenders are used in the system, with images of anyone not stored on the database deleted immediately.
This is in keeping with the data protection legislation and UK GDPR for biometric data, which covers the use of facial recognition.
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