Ian Clayton, a retired health and safety professional from Chester, was shopping at Home Bargains when a staff member ordered him to leave, claiming he had been identified as a shoplifter by Facewatch, a live facial recognition system. Clayton, 67, said he was stunned and given no explanation, only a QR code to scan after being escorted out.
Facewatch, used by retailers including B&M, Home Bargains, Sports Direct, Farm Foods and Spar, claims a 99.98% accuracy rate and sent 50,288 alerts of 'known offenders' last month. However, individuals wrongly identified say they received no support and struggled to complain or prove their innocence.
Clayton submitted a subject access request to discover he had been incorrectly linked to a previous shoplifting incident. Home Bargains offered him a £100 voucher on condition of confidentiality, which he declined, calling it an attempt to 'buy my silence'. He described the experience as 'Orwellian' and 'guilty until proven innocent'.
Warren Rajah, a data strategist from south London, was asked to leave a Sainsbury's store after being misidentified by Facewatch. He later learned he was not on the database and staff had erred. He received a £75 voucher but said the incident raised civil rights concerns, particularly given racial biases in facial recognition technology.
UK biometrics commissioners warn that oversight is lagging behind the rapid expansion of facial recognition. The Home Office has admitted the technology is more likely to misidentify black and Asian people and women. Critics question who regulates these systems and what recourse exists when errors occur.
