NZ Herald Morning Headlines | Saturday, March 7, 2026.
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Bunnings Warehouse is introducing facial recognition technology to combat what it says is a rising number of thefts and threatening incidents.
The hardware retailer will use the technology (FRT) to map the features of all customers who enter its stores.
Only the faces of those involved in a previous incidentwill be stored and kept to create a database that will help staff identify repeat offenders.
Bunnings New Zealand general manager Melissa Haines said the introduction of FRT will help protect customers and team members from violence, abuse and intimidation.
“The scale of retail crime in New Zealand is accelerating and shows no signs of stopping,” Haines said. “Repeat offenders now account for 34% of all threatening incidents, up from 26% in 2022, meaning they are driving much of this harm.”
With harm in stores doubling over the past four years, she believes the controversial system “adds one more layer to the safety tools we are already using, such as security guards, team member training, body‑worn cameras and serious incident response processes”.
Bunnings will initially roll out the technology in its Te Rapa and Hamilton South stores next month before eventually expanding nationwide.
The move by Bunnings is designed to combat a rise in threatening incidents at stores nationwide. Photo / George Heard
Foodstuffs trialled similar technology for seven months in 2024, the results of which informed a 2025 inquiry by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC).
“The risks of overcollection, scope creep, surveillance, misidentification and bias are well documented,” the report reads. “Biometric technologies such as facial recognition also capture unchangeable aspects of who we are.”
Finding the supermarket chain had complied with the Privacy Act, the OPC established clear guidelines for when the use of FRT is permissible.
Retailers must show it is necessary to implement the system and that there are no better alternatives.
Several Pak’nSave and New World stores around the country continue to use FRT but must follow key privacy safeguards, such as deleting non-matching images immediately.
Haines said the decision to introduce facial recognition at Bunnings has not been made quickly and involved careful consideration of the Privacy Commissioner’s findings.
“We’ve undertaken a thorough assessment process, with privacy, safety and community expectations at the forefront, and we are taking a phased approach to get this right.”
The retailer said it has also incorporated Tikanga Māori principles in its approach after consulting a Māori sovereignty expert.
