A 67-year-old grandfather was wrongly accused of shoplifting after facial recognition technology at a Home Bargains store in Chester flagged him as a thief. Ian Clayton said he was asked to leave the shop in front of a group of people, leaving him feeling 'helpless' and 'sick'.
The technology, operated by security firm Facewatch, identifies suspicious behaviour such as items being stuffed into bags and alerts staff. It also flags individuals on a watchlist. However, Facewatch admitted Mr Clayton should not have appeared on its system and said his image and associated record had been permanently removed.
Mr Clayton, who said he has a 'perfect clean record', has contacted police and Home Bargains to request CCTV footage. He said he just wanted 'to feel safe' going into shops again. A Facewatch spokesperson said Home Bargains had completed a full review and that the company takes accuracy seriously.
The incident comes as figures show facial recognition cameras flagged record numbers of crime suspects in the UK, including over 2,000 a day before Christmas. Privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch warned of wrongful 'blacklisting' of innocent people, citing cases such as a 64-year-old woman accused of stealing paracetamol and a man cleared by CCTV review.
Last year, Danielle Horan from Manchester was falsely accused of stealing toilet roll by the same technology, prompting her to call for a ban on AI anti-theft systems. Facewatch said it was making inquiries with the staff member who reported the incident.
