Sainsbury’s is to roll out facial recognition technology to more than 200 stores by the end of this year.
The technology is currently now live in 55 stores following a successful trial, and will be installed in a further 150 stores by Christmas.
The supermarket said the effectiveness of the technology in reducing crime was “clear” with 92% of identified and banned offenders not returning to its stores.
In September, Sainsbury’s began trialling the Facewatch technology at its Sydenham superstore and Bath Oldfield convenience store. In January the trial was expanded to five London stores, following what the supermarket called a “seismic” fall in store theft.
The system alerts Sainsbury’s stores when a person “reasonably suspected of involvement in crime” – reported by Sainsbury’s staff or other retailers in the area – enters the premises. It is used to help identify and possibly ban people who are “violent, aggressive or steal in the store”.
Facial recognition technology has proven controversial, and supermarkets’ use of it has been the focus of the campaigning of civil liberties groups.
Facewatch’s tech – which is also used by Home Bargains, Southern Co-op, Budgens, Costcutter and several independent convenience stores – has seen innocent individuals wrongly flagged as shoplifters. In 2024, the company faced a legal challenge from a 19-year-old who was confronted and thrown out of a Home Bargains store in Manchester after the system alerted staff to her presence. The Information Commissioner’s Office has investigated Facewatch, finding areas of concern it said had been responded to through improvements to the product.
Southern Co-op has also faced legal complaints over its use of the tech. “As long as it continues to prevent violent attacks, then we believe its use is justified,” the retailer said at the time.
Sainsbury’s said its use of the technology “has been designed with strong safeguards”, adding that the Facewatch system has a 99.98% accuracy rate and every alert is reviewed by trained Sainsbury’s colleagues before any action is taken.
In February, it was forced to apologise to a customer after they were escorted out of a store over a mix-up with staff and the store’s facial recognition system. Sainsbury’s said at the time it was “not an issue with the facial recognition technology in use but a case of the wrong person being approached in the store”.
Jasleen Chaggar, legal and policy officer at privacy group Big Brother Watch, said: “The idea that we are all just one facial recognition mistake away from being falsely accused of a crime or ejected from a store without any explanation is deeply chilling.”
The campaign group considers supermarkets’ use of facial recognition “deeply disproportionate” and “Orwellian”.
Usdaw’s 2025 Freedom From Fear survey found nearly four in five retail workers had experienced abuse, threats or assault at work. Statistics from the British Retail Consortium show that over the past year there were 1,600 such incidents every day across the UK.
Sainsbury’s said that “no one should have to face that for simply doing their job”.
“Retail crime is at unacceptable levels, and the impact on people working in shops has become a national emergency. At Sainsbury’s, keeping colleagues and customers safe is a priority and one we continue to act on,” the supermarket said.
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