A sharp increase in shoplifting is causing more and more British supermarkets and stores to install security cameras with AI technology and facial recognition.
"If we don't do that, we will go bankrupt," says Nathan Walmsley, the manager of supermarket chain Filco in Wales. "It is that extreme," he says. "There is theft here every day. If we don't invest heavily in security, we simply lose too much money to theft to stay afloat."
And he is not alone. Across the country, entrepreneurs are affected by the rise in shoplifting. According to official figures, there are half a million theft incidents per year, but the sector itself estimates the actual number of incidents at twenty million.
Thief often goes free
Due to a lack of police capacity, the thief often goes free. "More serious crime takes priority over shoplifters," says Walmsley. "So we have to solve it ourselves."
The supermarket chain in Wales has installed cameras in all branches that can recognize 'suspicious' actions with AI software. If someone hides something in a trouser pocket, under a shirt, or in a bag, the system recognizes the action and staff receive a notification on their phone or tablet within seconds.
Does it work? In the video we test it:
It works well, says Walmsley. "Then we approach the thief, show that we have filmed the theft, and ask them to put back the stolen product or pay for it." According to the manager, at least half as much is stolen now and the staff feel safer.
The supermarket chain in Wales has installed cameras in all branches that can recognize 'suspicious' actions with AI software. If someone hides something in a trouser pocket, under a shirt, or in a bag, the system recognizes the action and staff receive a notification on their phone or tablet within seconds.
"Then we approach the thief, show that we have filmed the theft, and ask them to put back the stolen product or pay for it," says Walmsley. It works well, says the manager, at least half as much is stolen now and the staff feel safer.
In addition, the supermarket has also invested in facial recognition. The technology scans faces in the supermarket and then searches for matches in a database.
If people enter the store chain who have previously stolen, staff receive a notification and can refuse them entry. The images from the facial recognition plus the recorded incidents are sent from the supermarket to the police.
Privacy
In the Netherlands, stores are not allowed to use facial recognition for security purposes. That difference exists because British privacy law accepts the 'legitimate interest', for example preventing theft, as a legal basis. In the EU, that is not the case.
But the use of facial recognition in British stores does raise privacy discussions. Civil rights organizations warn that ordinary customers in supermarkets can end up on 'blacklists' without police or judicial involvement.
Errors
And it turns out the technology can also make mistakes. Several cases are known of people who were wrongly identified and unjustly removed from a store. For example, Sainsbury's, a large British supermarket chain that recently also started using facial recognition, had to apologize recently. An unsuspecting customer was escorted out by security.
Critics also point out that facial recognition systems are not equally trained on different skin colors, which could mean a higher error rate for certain skin tones.
But despite these kinds of errors and privacy issues, according to David Spencer, a former detective and now advisor at the leading British think tank Policy Exchange, it is absolutely necessary to use this kind of technology against shoplifting in the United Kingdom.
"Currently, shopkeepers and retailers lose 4.5 billion euros annually to theft. That has a huge economic impact," he says.
Low priority
According to Spencer, a climate of 'impunity' has arisen because perpetrators too often go free. This is due to a 2014 law that effectively gave theft under 200 British pounds lower priority, due to lack of police capacity and court backlogs.
As a result, organized theft gangs have also emerged in the UK, who steal goods to resell them. The technology that store owners are now installing can, according to Spencer, make a big difference in tracking down these criminal groups.
"Actually, store owners are helping the police map and dismantle these kinds of criminal networks." He adds: "Ultimately, it is not the technology that decides whether someone is arrested; a police officer must first look at it and then, where necessary, a judge must decide."