but so far there hasn’t even been a parliamentary debate on it.

Because the longer they take to legislate it, the more intrusive they can permanently be.

And guess what. They'll keep at it unless at least one of them goes to prison.

Cadillac Fairview also asserted that shoppers were made aware of the activity via decals it had placed on shopping mall entry doors that referred to their privacy policy

They should get fined for an answer like that. Seriously.

Unfortunately, its not clear if masks actually stop facial recognition. I think it helps, but not probably not as well as it did before covid.

Baby formula, laundry detergent, and food I bet.

Inb4 someone claims that all of that being stolen is being used to make drugs somehow.

What are you on about? The entire capitalist system is based on theft from the workers. To even be a capitalist means you gave someone less than the value they produced during the time they worked.

If they didn't want us taking back what's rightfully ours then they shouldn't have stolen from us in the first place.

Why do people keep defending the parasites?

Of course theft is bad, but is eroding privacy the necessary evil to solve the problem?

In the US (I couldn't find UK numbers but don't know where to look), the National Retail Federation's 2022 security report did find external theft is the biggest cause of shrink at 37% while theft of inventory by employees and loss of inventory by corporate mismanagement adding up to 54%. ^[1]^ If companies are losing more inventory through their own mismanagement than they are from people coming into the store and stealing, should this technology be the priority?

Really, if anything is the take away from the report (this is probably more US specific and not as applicable in the UK), it's that there has been an increase in violence and aggression in their stores over the last couple years. With regards to the always running facial recognition, I don't see how that will make a significant impact of violence and organized retail crime.

Obviously retail in the UK is going to be different, but this technology seems to be best suited for non-violent shoplifters, and that might not actually be a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, especially to warrant draconian measures.

^[1]^ https://cdn.nrf.com/sites/default/files/2022-09/National%20Retail%20Security%20Survey%20Organized%20Retail%20Crime%202022.pdf

What are you tired of? People stealing from faceless corporations that destabilize countries (Chiquita), let their employees die over profits (Amazon), treat their employees like slave labour (McDonals), and on and on.

You’re tired of people stealing from them? What are your values exactly? Bend over and let the companies write your laws so you can feel good at night hitting your pillow knowing that Bob across the street got locked up for not reporting his second car? That will teach him!

Buddy. You need to do some serious thinking about your priorities in life.

If you are stealing to survive its much more realistic to focus on higher value products you can resell for cash than to try stealing the specific things you need. It's both more efficient and less likely to get you caught.

I agree.

Also DA who don’t prosecute petty theft.

I have no idea who would downvote you or why.

Theft creates conditions that encourage the publicizing of personal data. It is an anti-pattern to privacy.

You could be a pedophile and therefore you don’t deserve privacy. Please post in this thread your address, phone number, and all your passwords. I’m waiting.

I wondered if there are other means, beside a mask or face cover, to not be seen. Like some sort of cream you put on, like you would sunscreen, that somehow tricks the camera recognition tools. ???