As retail thefts continue to be a top concern of businesses, the popular grocer Fairway Market has quietly turned to facial recognition technology in its Manhattan stores, including the Upper East Side supermarket located at 240 East 86th Street, near Second Avenue. However, customers may not have known they were being watched — as required by New York City law.
At Fairway Market on Tuesday, newly posted signs at the entrance and exit doors of the 86th Street supermarket greet customers with a warning that reads ‘Biometric Identifier Information Disclosure.’
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“This Business collects, retains, converts, stores, or shares customers’ biometric identifier information, which is information that can be used to identify or help identify you. Examples of biometric identifier information are eye scans and voiceprints.”
It’s not clear when the signs went up — however, photos of the UES supermarket taken by Upper East Site in early February do not feature the required biometric disclosure taped to the sliding glass doors.
A City law went into effect in 2021 mandating that business which collect biometric data, including facial recognition technology, must post “a clear and conspicuous sign” to notify the customers their personal information is being collected, retained, converted, stored or shared.
However, in order to enforce the law, private citizens are required to sue a business that is not in compliance. Making it even more difficult to enforce, the law also states that lawsuits from the public can not be brought against a business if they post the required signage within 30 days of a violation.
The New York Times first reported on Fairway Market’s biometric data collection after spotting the required disclosure in the window of its Chelsea supermarket last Friday, a spokesperson telling them the technology had already been in use for a year.
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“Retail theft and shoplifting has a high rate of repeat offense and drives up grocery costs for all customers,” explained Karen O’Shea, a spokesperson for Wakefern, Fairway Market’s parent company, who added that the facial recognition technology is in use at all four Manhattan Fairway supermarkets.
“Only trained asset protection associates use the system, which helps us focus attention on repeat shoplifters,” O’Shea told Upper East Site, “We have found that this technology — used thoughtfully and in combination with other measures we take to reduce theft – is helping prevent more crime in store.”
Thefts on the Upper East Side continue to be problematic, with petit larcenies up close to 10% compared to the same period in 2022, while grand larcenies reported to the NYPD have remained flat after surging on the UES last year.
The most high profile use of facial recognition technology in New York City has been by Madison Square Garden, which employs artificial intelligence to ban lawyers who work for firms suing the venue in various civil cases, and has drawn the ire of lawmakers and even the state liquor authority.
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