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Two major New Zealand retailers are giving staff body cameras to wear in response to concerns about “abusive” customer behaviour.
Farmers and The Warehouse are now using body cameras in their stores after other retailers such as Woolworths adopted the technology.
However, a civil liberties expert says customers shouldbe concerned about what businesses do with the information gathered and who will be able to see it.
The privacy policy on Farmers’ website says cameras will ”be worn by staff” and used to record video and audio.
“The cameras will only be activated when an event occurs in a store where the safety of our staff and/or customers may be at risk,” the policy states.
It says the information may be shared with “our employees, contractors and service providers”, other retailers/police, and with any person permitted or required by law.
Body cameras were being used by Farmers to “detect, reduce and prevent criminal, threatening, abusive or disorderly behaviour” and “investigate complaints and suspected unlawful or criminal behaviour”.
The Warehouse has been using body cameras in some of its stores, after first trialling the technology in 2019. Photo / Alex Cairns
The Warehouse said some of its stores “use body cameras” and all had CCTV.
The body cameras were activated only “if an incident” was taking place, a spokesperson said. All stores had signs informing customers that CCTV was operating.
“Footage is only used in compliance with our privacy policy and the Privacy Act.”
The Warehouse first began trialling body cameras in its stores in December 2019.
Farmers was approached by the Herald for comment on this story but did not reply.
Thomas Beagle, chairman of the New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties. Photo / Mark Mitchell
NZ Council for Civil Liberties chairman Thomas Beagle said body cameras were different to CCTV because they would typically capture audio, meaning whole conversations could be recorded.
“The questions are around who has access to that footage and how long they’re keeping it for.”
The Warehouse’s privacy statement, published online, says personal information will be kept “only for as long as we need it” and will be destroyed “in a secure manner”.
“CCTV footage is automatically deleted on a regular cycle, though in some cases it may be retained for longer where necessary to investigate an incident or assist the police to investigate an offence.”
Woolworths NZ says body cameras help supermarket staff to de-escalate situations with customers.
Denva Wren, Woolworths NZ’s head of safety, health and well-being, said body cameras were tested at 10 stores before being extended to all stores after “good feedback” from staff and union partners.
Across the trial, there was a significant reduction in antisocial behaviour, though this was not linked solely to body cameras.
“They’re intended as a deterrent and have so far been activated in a small number of events, none of them major,” Wren said.
Staff using the cameras felt much safer knowing they had “a tool to record abuse or conflict”. Often, simply turning the camera on de-escalated the situation.
Foodstuffs, which owns Pak’nSave and New World, said about 25 of its 500 stores had chosen to use body cameras.
“These cameras are used in line with the Privacy Act. Footage is typically only recorded when activated, then securely exported,” a spokesperson said.
“Recordings of retail crime incidents are uploaded to our retail crime reporting platform and can only be accessed by authorised team members.”
Bunnings NZ general manager Melissa Haines said the business had seen an increase in “the frequency of customer violence and aggression” towards team members.
Body cameras had been used in several stores in Australia and New Zealand since 2022, and staff had seen a “notable difference in customer behaviour” when they were used.
Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young says body cameras are a good preventative tool for shops.
Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young said stores would use body cameras in different ways, with some giving them to security guards.
“It’s not like the camera is on at all times ... it only goes on when there’s an interaction with a person of interest about a situation that’s happened.”
The cameras were a good preventative tool, but it was a shame that retailers “had to get to this point in security measures” because of the level of violence and crime.
Beagle said the real concern about body cameras was if they were being used with facial recognition technology, as the issue then shifted from being “footage of people moving around” to formal identification.
“It changes it from being camera footage into data about real people.
“Facial recognition is a major shift in terms of the invasiveness of surveillance tech.”
That incident highlighted the potential danger of surveillance technology, he said.
An inquiry by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, released on Wednesday, found that a facial recognition trial by Foodstuffs raised significant privacy concerns, but was ultimately compliant with the Privacy Act.
Commissioner Michael Webster said concerns included “the unnecessary or unfair collection of people’s information”, misidentification and technical bias, which could reinforce existing inequities.
Beagle said staff-worn body cameras were part of a “creeping surveillance” that was being made possible by cheaper technology.
“Surveillance tech is getting cheaper and cheaper all the time.”
Eva de Jong is a New Zealand Herald reporter covering general news for the daily newspaper, Weekend Herald and Herald on Sunday. She was previously a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle, covering health stories and general news.
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