Woolworths introduces changes to self-service checkouts

Woolworths is implementing controversial AI security technology at its self-serve checkouts, in an effort to deter thieves attempting to bypass scanning.

The camera technology can accurately detect instances where an item has not been scanned through the self checkout. 

When an item has not been scanned, it notifies the customer through an on-screen alert, while simultaneously notifying a staff member with a red light above the checkout.

Woolworths says the system has been designed to safeguard shoppers’ privacy. 

Woolworths is rolling out surveillance cameras at self-serve and operator-assisted checkouts to reduce incidents of fake swiping 

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‘This is it’s not viewed live, and any faces inadvertently detected are blurred when the footage is reviewed by a person so the customer cannot be identified,’ Alisha Moore, the assistant state manager for Woolworths in WA, told the ABC.  

The technology also automatically blurred pin pads, ensuring shoppers’ credit card details remained confidential.

 ‘And then there’s privacy around the pin pads as well, so we actually don’t have the technology overviewing the pin pads, it is all blacked out.’

Woolworths says they have been forced to introduce the technology amid a rise in thieves who don’t scan items. 

‘We are seeing  an increase in retail crime and theft,’ Moore said.

But Samantha Floreani, a program lead for Digital Rights Watch, said the technology  ‘normalised surveillance’ and treated every customer like a suspect.

‘These technologies are framed as an improvement for customers, but in reality, it is punitive use of automation technology to cut costs on staffing for large corporations while treating every customer as a suspect,’ she told The Guardian.