© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logos of Australian electronic goods retailers JB Hi-Fi and the privately-held 100-store rival The Good Guys are displayed at a shopping center in Sydney, Australia, May 19, 2016. REUTERS/David Gray
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s second-biggest appliances chain said on Tuesday it was pausing a trial of facial recognition technology in stores after a consumer group referred it to the privacy regulator for possible enforcement action.
Use of the technology by The Good Guys, owned by JB Hi-Fi Ltd, was “unreasonably intrusive”, and potentially in breach of privacy laws, the group, CHOICE, told the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
“The Good Guys … will pause the trial of the upgraded security system with the optional facial recognition technology being conducted in two of its Melbourne stores,” a spokesperson for JB Hi-Fi said in an email.
