Reports state that Wegmans has posted notices in New York City stores letting customers know that data on their faces, eyes, and voices may be collected and stored for safety reasons, presumably as a tool to prevent shoplifting.
Legislation to prohibit the collection of this type of data was introduced in New York City a few years ago but didn’t pass. Several retailers had spoken out against the legislation, claiming that biometric surveillance was an effective tool for identifying known shoplifters.
The practice of collecting facial recognition data is controversial, and several lawsuits have previously been filed. For example, Target was sued by a woman in 2024, and that same year the Federal Trade Commission banned Rite Aid from using the technology after it mistakenly identified some customers as shoplifters.
Last year Massachusetts introduced legislation that would ban the use of biometric data for pricing purposes in supermarkets after Walmart, Kroger, and others began to roll out digital shelf pricing. This practice could theoretically offer different prices to different shoppers.
