Grocery Outlet to Use Facial Recognition Technology

Grocery Outlet is installing facial recognition technology at some of its California stores, a move that pits a budget grocer against a growing list of legal and privacy hurdles.

Signs posted at the entrances read: “Face Matching software being used to prevent shoplifting.” The notices include a QR code that links to the privacy policy for the system, which is provided by Safr Guard. The discount retailer has installed the tech at locations in Pleasant Hill, Concord, and two sites in San Francisco.

Safr Guard collects facial images of shoppers when they enter stores, alongside security camera footage and information from individual retailers about those suspected of theft, violence or other illegal conduct. The company maintains a watch list of people caught on surveillance footage committing crimes and sends alerts to retailers when offenders enter a store.

Grocery Outlet has not yet responded to a request for comment on the deployment.

Legal precedents and risks

Retailers have tried facial recognition technology before, and it has been met with controversy, a lawsuit and a suspension. In early 2024, the now-defunct Rite Aid reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission that banned the pharmacy retailer from using the tech for five years. The agency said from 2012 to 2020, Rite Aid used artificial intelligence-based surveillance to identify customers who engaged in shoplifting. The tech erroneously identified some customers as shoplifters, prompting employees to follow customers around the store, search them and call police, the FTC said. The agency added that the false identifications disproportionately affected people of color.

In 2024, an Illinois woman sued Target for using biometric data without obtaining written permission or providing shoppers with advance notice. Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act makes it unlawful for a company to collect biometric information unless it first informs the subject in writing and receives a written release by the subject of the biometric identifier or biometric information.

About 13 states have laws regarding biometric data collection, with Massachusetts and New York City also looking at legislation banning the technology in stores. Wegmans announced earlier this year that it was using facial and voice recognition tech to track customers at two locations in New York City.

For the average shopper walking into a budget grocery store, the technology represents a constant, silent surveillance that they cannot turn off. Unlike a loyalty card, which provides a tangible benefit in exchange for data, this system offers no perks, only the risk of being flagged by an algorithm that may not always be accurate. The convenience of a discount price suddenly carries the baggage of a permanent digital record, turning a routine trip to the store into a data point in a corporate security database.