An Asda security guard has stepped into the debate after rumours were circulating that the chain was collecting information on shoppers.
The supermarket giant has firmly denied claims that it uses facial recognition technology at its self-checkouts to gather data for targeted advertising. The denial came after a video shared on Facebook by a regular customer discussing the issue went viral.
During the footage, a woman shared her "viewpoint" on the fixed cameras, which shows people themselves as they scan their products through the checkout.
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According to The Sun, the woman said: "What they’re basically happening, and this is my viewpoint, you’ve got a picture of your face, your debit card information and everything you’ve bought. Now, this is for as far as I’m concerned, targeted advertising…But I’ve never given anybody permission to take my data in that way."
Now a store security guard has stepped into the debate to blast the claims. Posting on Bristol Live's Facebook, he said: "I personally work as a security guard in an Asda store and I can confirm that our cameras don't have the capability to store images the cameras are purely there for us to spot theft/fraud and if anyone had put money in the till and either the till had not recognised the money so then we can either confirm or deny if that money had gone in the till.
"Asda has no reason and can't afford the technology to store people's images as that isn't much use to them."
A spokesperson for Asda previously told Full Fact that the cameras use AI to focus on faces. They said: "You might see a green box around the face—but again this footage isn't recorded or stored.
"We have no technology in our stores that could take an image, store it, and then compare it to other images to spot when a ‘recognised’ face comes into our store."
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