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In the first of seven interviews with Fraser Sampson the UK’s Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner hosted by Nick Fisher CEO of Facewatch, Fraser explains his statutory roles as Commissioner and suggests holding users accountable for deciding when to use facial recognition and new technology as opposed to demonising or banning it, is the way forward.
We recently met with Nisa Local Bow Road to gather some feedback on how Facewatch has affected their business. Facewatch was installed to the store in March 2021 to help the store staff fight crime.
We spoke with Chirag Patel, the store manager, who reported that Facewatch has had a really positive impact on the business.
In a video testimonial Chirag says that, ‘It has made a massive improvement… Our crime levels have dropped drastically’
Chirag explains that before installing Facewatch, they were struggling to manage crime. Their CCTV system was not enough to deter the crime and they were looking to use a more proactive tool.
Facewatch uses revolutionary Facial Recognition technology to watch out for shoplifters and other local offenders. When an offender enters the premises, their face is instantly recognised and an alert is generated.
This means that store staff can prioritise more important operational tasks like serving customers or stocking shelves safe with the knowledge that Facewatch is protecting the store.
Since using the system, Chirag and his staff have been able to keep on top of the store crime and drastically reduce the levels of crime in store.
‘The customers love that we have it, because it make them feel safe when in our premises’
In addition to the store staff loving the system, the reception with customers has also been great.
Having an effective solution to deter crime helps to create a safer working environment.
Facewatch is currently installing systems daily across the UK and stores interested in the system should contact our team immediately to secure their installation date.
0207 930 3225
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Eat 17’s family run SPAR in Hackney has become a strong advocate of Facewatch.
Following a successful trial at their Walthamstow store last year, the system was installed at the Hackney store 5 months ago to combat store crime. It immediately made an impact.
Once the repeat offenders are uploaded to the system, Facewatch’s unique software is able to recognize the returning offenders and instantly warn the store staff by sending an alert via the Facewatch mobile app.
By receiving the alert, store staff then have the information required to safely deal with the situation and prevent any further incidents.
In a video testimonial Emmanuelle Jardin, The Store Manager, says that, ‘Since installing Facewatch in our store, we saved I reckon, a few thousand pounds a week.’
As well as reducing the stock loss and saving money, the system also has a positive impact by creating a safer working environment for the colleagues in the store. Knowing that the system is watching out for offenders, it gives them peace of mind to go about their jobs without being worried for their safety.
‘Having the backup of the system, does make us feel more confident and safer.’
Emmanuelle also goes on to explain how the system automatically shares data with the local community, allowing local businesses to work together to combat crime.
Facewatch is currently installing systems daily across the UK and stores interested in the system should contact our team immediately to secure their installation date.
0207 930 3225
Play video here:
Appleby Westward, the successful convenience store wholesaler in the South and West of the UK, has become a firm supporter of Facewatch and has installed the facial recognition system in their own stores. They will be promoting the system to their independent retailers with a view for them to all install the shoplifting and anti-social behaviour deterrent.
In March 2021, this company trialled Facewatch for 90 days in 2 of their company owned stores based in Portsmouth. After just 45 days the system had been so effective that they decided to end the trial early and sign up for a paying contract.
In a video testimonial Martin Sanger, one of the groups area managers, says that, ‘It became clear that the effectiveness of the system in deterring store crime had saved the company thousands in shrinkage’ .
Since the opening up of retail following the pandemic there has been a surge of interest by convenience store owners to find ways to deter habitual thieves and reduce bad behaviour and abuse from some customers. Martin mentions this in his video interview and it seems that this challenge is across the whole UK. Today the focus for convenience stores, in particular, is to improve the working conditions of employees after a very tough 2020 when managing restrictions became a new and important priority which led to more theft. Facewatch provides a low cost and effective way to deter the worst offenders without any negative effect on the retail experience.
Facewatch is currently installing systems daily across the UK and stores interested in the system should contact our team immediately to secure their installation date.
Play video here:
Retail owners and managers are facing continuing and growing challenges with increasing losses due to theft and the need to provide a safe working environment for their customer-facing employees.
Public opinion is supportive of new technology to help with these challenges and retailers are becoming confident that solutions such as Facewatch are acceptable to their customers and front-line employees are keen to work in retailers where it is used.
Dave Sumner, our DPO, explains the 4-year journey that the company has taken to ensure that Facewatch became the leader in facial recognition.
I am a Certified Data Protection Officer and Certified Security Management Professional. Before I joined Facewatch over four years ago I enjoyed a 31 year career in the police. My career was varied and interesting with roles including Head of Criminal Justice, Director of Intelligence, and NATO’s Chief Advisor on Police Intelligence to the Afghan Home Secretary. All these roles involved handling sensitive information in order to achieve the objective of protecting people by preventing and detecting crime and bringing criminals to justice. They also had another thing in common – the objective had to be achieved within the boundaries of a legal and ethical framework. I had one simple personal rule that guided me throughout. I wanted to be able to sleep at night with a clear conscience, knowing I had done all I could and that my actions would withstand scrutiny in both the courts of the land and the court of public opinion.
It is for these reasons that I was recruited by Facewatch CEO Nick Fisher and Chairman Simon Gordon. They both saw the pressing need of business owners to protect their staff and property from criminal activity and that their Facewatch Facial Recognition System was the solution. They also recognised it was essential that the system operated in a way that complies with the law (the Data Protection Act) and that could withstand scrutiny by regulatory bodies ( the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner). Together we have built a facial recognition system that does just that.
We live in a world of individual rights, some of which are enshrined in law and some of which are expected by the public’s sense of natural justice and fairness. Business owners don’t want to offend either but also have to trade in a challenging environment where criminal activity takes away their profit and harms their staff and customers. This is why I also point to the right of business owners to protect their property, staff and customers from this criminality. This right is also enshrined in law and the public’s sense of natural justice and fairness.
The Facewatch system has been designed to ensure that Facewatch and their clients meet the requirements of the law. Our operation has been inspected and assessed by the Information Commissioner’s Office and fully briefed to the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner. MORI Polling shows the majority of the public sampled to be in favour of facial recognition as a tool to prevent crime. Our clients can therefore rest assured that their use of Facewatch will withstand scrutiny in both the courts of the land and the court of public opinion.
Facewatch welcomes the ICO Opinion on how Live Facial Recognition can be lawfully used in public spaces, including the retail environment. The Opinion provides much need clarity on how LFR can be lawfully used to prevent crime.
I am delighted to say that the announcement confirms our comprehensive data protection measures fully meet the requirements of the Opinion by both Facewatch and our clients.
In future blogs I will describe how the Facewatch System works in a legal and ethical way starting with Subjects of Interest, the people that businesses want to protect themselves from. In the meantime I continue to work to help business protect themselves by ensuring the legal compliance of Facewatch.
And yes, I still sleep well.
New system upgrades also continue across our network in London and Luton.
With the recent BRC (British Retail Consortium) crime survey reporting an increase in theft and violence many retailers are facing huge challenges to support their front line workers and protect their stock. With a further increase in theft in the wholesale market to compound the issues technology is increasingly seen as a low cost and positive way forward.
Facewatch have recently commissioned a YouGOV survey across the UK and public opinion towards the use of CCTV based AFR systems shows that over 74.9% of the public are in agreement or are neutral about the use of AFR in everyday life to prevent and solve crime.
If you are a retail owner who is worried about theft and anti-social behaviour in your store but have questions about the reaction by your customers to the use of these new technologies then Nick Fisher, CEO, Facewatch is available to discuss the challenges, show you the system in use and for you to meet other retailers who are currently using the Facewatch system.
Our Data Protection Officer, Dave Sumner is also available to overview the detail of how Facewatch manages data under the GDPR data protection law. https://www.facewatch.co.uk/privacy/facewatch-and-gdpr/
Nick Fisher, CEO, Facewatch, responds to the latest BRC crime report
https://brc.org.uk/news/corporate-affairs/retail-crime-continues-to-climb/
The recent BRC (British Retail Consortium) 2021 crime report gives us all a chilling reminder of how even during a pandemic retail crime and violence continues to blight an industry that employs over 3million people- 10% of the UK working population.
The headline facts show a marked increase in theft and violence and how difficult it is to convict those committing offences.
Technology is providing a range of innovative solutions to ensure the retail experience is safe and pleasurable, however, some of these new solutions make it easier for theft and sometimes mean a less interactive experience for shoppers especially those who are older and less able to cope with new technology. These challenges will continue, and new innovations are sure to arrive that answer these needs. Crime and violence however seem to be an epidemic driven by social issues that vary greatly across the UK. One thing this report highlights is that overall, there is a steady increase in theft and violence, specifically in the retail sector.
How are we helping at Facewatch?
As a business our vision is to create safer, crime fee retailing, and our mission is to develop the very latest technology to be used by retailers to create a deterrent to both theft and violence. Our newest, fastest, and easiest to use version of Facewatch is being deployed by all types of retailers nationwide to great effect.
We understand it is not easy for a retailer to broadcast they are using a sophisticated technology such as facial recognition, but our customer collectively agree that Facewatch is it an imperative tool to have in your armoury if you are serious about providing a safe environment for your employees and customers. For those using the Facewatch system, customer facing employees report feeling safer and the accountants report less shrinkage. It’s a win-win solution and if our users had any negative feedback from their everyday loyal customers, we would be the first to know. Just for the record, this has never happened! Facewatch provides store signage to ensure the service is transparent to all customer and operates beyond the standard required by GDPR and is evidenced to reduce crime in your store by at least 25% in the first 90 days.
If you think criminals are getting away with it, think again! Narrated by Rav Wilding, this series shows how smart technology and specialist tactics are being used to bring offenders to justice.
Nick Fisher and Simon Gordon – tell the true story of Facewatch and how it is deterring crime across the retail sector.
All episodes are now live on BBC Iplayer:
Facewatch’ s mission has always been to provide a service that supports retail business owners and create a better retail experience for the customer in an unobtrusive way. It is, therefore, a sad moment to read reports on the huge increase in anti-social behaviour and violence towards retail staff over the last year. Much of this increase has been caused by a small minority of the public who are frustrated by the need for the in-store safety measures brought about by the Covid 19 pandemic.
Facewatch has, of course, been aware of these challenges and our launch of a new algorithm that is effective in recognising habitual offenders even when wearing a facemask, was one of our immediate priorities and was delivered in November last year. We now see Facewatch’ s role in the retail sector broadened and key to the future of safe retailing.
Facewatch instantly identifies individuals with a track record of crime or anti-social behaviour when entering a store, sending immediate alerts to multiple destinations as determined by the store. These can be to the store manager, security guards, monitoring stations, head office all at the same time in less than 2 seconds, enabling an immediate intervention.
Throughout the pandemic, retailers have needed to control customer volumes in store. In some cases, this has increased costs by using man guarding in addition to all the necessary PPE controls being applied. The Police have declared they simply do not have the resources to deal with crimes such as store theft and general abuse of retail employees. Consequently, multiple retailers are turning to Facewatch as a proven and effective solution in deterring the undesirable customers from coming to their stores for fear of being recognised, thus preventing all the hassle and stress associated with repeat offenders. In fact, Facewatch customers report a reduction in crime of 25% or more within the first 90 days of deployment with increasing results the longer the system is used.
Signage displayed to customers (and repeat offenders) makes them aware that the system is deployed in the store resulting in both customers and employees reporting feeling safer as a result. There is no evidence whatsoever that it deters honest customers from shopping at the store.
There are a few minority civil liberty organisation that would have you believe that facial recognition and companies like Facewatch will hold and store your data, track and trace your movement and infringe your liberty! In fact, Facewatch deletes all biometric data of regular customers (non-offenders) immediately and operates above the already strict legislation for biometric technology.
Retail workers have been complete heroes throughout this pandemic and yet over 400 of these heroes are attacked threatened or abused in their workplace every day. That was over 150,000 in 2020 and recent report claim it has increased by 80% in some businesses since the summer. These crimes are highly corrosive to the people working in these challenging circumstances and so the Government must act to criminalise such offence. As a former retail director, who understands completely the challenges placed on modern day retailers I am completely aligned with the 65 retail CEO’s who have written to Boris Johnson to ask for greater protection for shopworkers.
In support of our complete commitment to this, for the duration of the lockdown in England if anti-social behaviour and staff abuse is affecting your business Facewatch will provide one system licence and training free of charge for the first 90 days and if you are not completely satisfied with the results during this period Facewatch will remove the system.
Since Facewatch installed their new face mask system last November we have been impressed with the way it recognises people wearing masks and the new “Facebox” can detect up to 25 faces per second. We have also found that crime has gone down significantly since using Facewatch as word has got out that we are not so easy and there are other softer targets.
Simon Lawrence, Director, of Lawrences’ Garages Ltd
