Julian Benefield: General Counsel for Foodstuffs North Island on supermarket facial recognition tech getting approval from the Privacy Commissioner - Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Foodstuffs is hoping to bring retail crime down after a successful trial of live facial recognition technology.

The Privacy Commissioner has deemed Foodstuffs North Island's trial compliant with the Privacy Act, and effective in reducing harm. 

But his report states there's more work to do.

General Counsel for Foodstuffs North Island, Julian Benefield, says retail crime has put staff at risk - and the company's hoping to change that.

"Our trial has been a success, it found that technology was effective in reducing harm. Our independent evaluator found a 16 percent reduction in serious harm incidents across the trial period - and over 100 serious incidents avoided."

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