The Spar group has decided to abandon its project of facial recognition of customers in its supermarkets in Switzerland, reveals the “NZZ am Sonntag”. The brand planned to install sensors in 147 stores to determine the age and gender of customers. Based on this data, Spar wanted to display personalized advertisements on supermarket screens.
The system was installed in several stores, but after negative feedback from customers it will now be dismantled. The retailer says people’s privacy has always been respected. However, Monika Simmler, professor of criminal law at the University of St. Gallen, disputes this claim, saying that analyzing characteristics like gender or age constitutes an attack on fundamental rights.
She also criticizes other facial recognition technologies that are spreading in Switzerland. “All data collection by the state and private providers leads to a density of surveillance likely to threaten our freedom,” says the professor. Facial recognition projects are indeed multiplying in our country.
According to the German-speaking Sunday newspaper, a new amendment to the Aviation Act, currently under consultation, plans to extend this technology to all Swiss airports. It would allow you to move around the airport without a passport or boarding pass. Another example: entry to football stadiums is now controlled by video surveillance, so that violent fans are likely to be identified and monitored on an ongoing basis.
Furthermore, the Federal Police Office plans to modernize its facial photo database to enable automatic searches. In addition to suspected or convicted criminals, it includes photos of dead or missing people, as well as asylum seekers and foreigners who have been biometrically registered. The authorities, however, assure that they do not plan to introduce real-time surveillance, although this is not expressly prohibited in Switzerland.
