Twenty-five stores across the North Island were included in the trial. (File image) Photo: 123RF
Facial recognition technology reduces serious harm in supermarkets by about 16 percent, according to independent evaluators of a recent trial.
The Foodstuffs North Island trial, conducted from February, involved 25 New World and Pak'nSave stores.
Independent analytics firm Scarlatti found there was "strong quantitative evidence" that facial recognition technology reduced serious harmful behaviour at those stores by about 16 percent.
It prevented about 100 serious harm events, including assaults, abuse and disorderly conduct, the firm found.
In total, there were 1742 facial recognition alerts for repeat offenders and their accomplices during the six-month trial - an average of 70 per store.
Of those 1742, about 50 percent resulted in staff approaching the person who had been flagged.
Scarlatti director Dr Adam Barker said about half of the 16 percent reduction could be attributed to those staff approaches.
The other half was "due to the deterrent effect, stopping them returning".
There were nine instances of someone being approached by staff, but misidentified as the wrong person. In two cases, the shopper was asked to leave.
All nine instances were attributable to human error, and were outweighed by the benefits of using facial recognition, justifying its use, Barker said.
A survey of more than 1000 adults, done by OnePicture, found 79 percent of respondents accepted facial recognition being used in stores, even if it only reduced harm by less than 1 percent, he said.
There had been a sharp increase in the level of retail crime across Foodstuffs North Island's stores in recent years, general counsel Julian Benefield said.
"We have a moral and legal duty to do all we can to keep our teams and customers safe.
"Scarlatti's conclusion that FR prevented over 100 serious events at just 25 stores over a six-month period shows the potential for harm reduction across our wider store network."
He said where customers were misidentified as offenders or their accomplices, the co-op had apologised as soon as possible.
"We have also implemented further training and changed our verification processes as a result."
The co-op's latest figures, for the July to September 2024 quarter, showed the total number of retail crime incidents was 4933, up nearly 5 percent on the previous quarter, and up 41 percent on the same period in 2023.
Repeat offenders were responsible for almost 38 percent of all incidents, Benefield said.
Foodstuffs North Island would now await the findings of the privacy commissioner's public inquiry into the trial before deciding on any further use of the technology, he said.
The 25 stores that were part of the trial would continue to use facial recognition in the meantime.
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