Will UK consumers ever accept face scans for retail?

Facial recognition is now being used at thousands of locations across the United Kingdom, but a recent survey has illuminated the public’s serious trust issues with the new technology. Meanwhile, in China, and even Singapore, facial recognition is quickly being integrated into everyday life.

Thousands of retail stores in hundreds of cities across China are already using facial recognition technology to accept payments from their customers. Shoppers find it fast and convenient, in particular when self-checkout systems allow consumers to skip store checkout queues. In fact, it is becoming the new standard for in-store electronic payments, with Chinese shoppers even using face scan payments for buying everyday grocery items such as a loaf of bread.

WeChat Pay and Alibaba Group’s Alipay, the payment applications that jointly account for over 90 percent of China’s mobile payments, are the leaders in the country’s facial recognition payment systems. Alibaba also develops facial recognition systems for a wide variety of public and private sector users, including the group’s flagship smart hotel FlyZooin Hangzhou, which uses face scans for hotel guests to access their rooms.

Nor is the use of facial recognition in retail limited to China.

Singapore’s national telecom, Singtel, launched an unmanned pop-up shop in the city this year. The 24/7 store, called Unboxed, allows customers to converse with a roving store robot, which uses facial recognition to provide personalised recommendations and process purchases on the spot. Three other brands of unmanned convenience stores are expected to launch in Singapore by the year-end, all leveraging facial recognition for in-store services.

The commercial use of facial recognition in the Asian city-state isn’t simply limited to convenience stores either. Singapore is even using the technology to provide luxury customer experiences.

OCBC Bank is using technology from NEC to identify customers in real-time as they approach the Premier Banking lounge, without even requiring them to stop and look at the camera. The information is then used by OCBC staff to greet the customer by name, have their banking details ready and offer then their preferred choice of refreshment. The cameras are also used to track customer behaviours in an effort to improve customer service.

But, ten thousand kilometres away in the British Isles, public distrust in facial recognition technology seems to be intensifying.

According to a recent study by the independent Ada Lovelace Institute, consumers in the United Kingdom simply do not trust commercial use of facial recognition. The survey found that 77 percent of people in the country are uncomfortable with the prospect of facial recognition technology being used by stores, while 70 percent of those cite the reason as a lack of trust in companies to use the technology ethically.

The UK’s High Court ruled earlier this month that police use of facial recognition technology was legal and did not violate the Human Rights Act or Data Protection legislation, allowing the South Wales Police force to continue their facial recognition trials.

However, even when it comes to police and security use, almost one third of the British public are uncomfortable with police using facial recognition at all.

Such has been the increase in negative public sentiment, that the developers of King’s Cross Central, a multi-billion pound mixed-use development in central London, decided a few weeks ago to shelve plans to install facial recognition, which was due to be part of their security systems. The project was also subject to an official enquiry from the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office, or ICO.

Despite the recent outcry, facial recognition is being used extensively for security purposes. Director of non-profit privacy campaign Big Brother Watch, Silkie Carlo, calls the use of facial recognition in the UK an epidemic.

Big Brother Watch claims that millions of people in Britain are having their faces scanned without their knowledge. The technology is in use at thousands shopping centres, retail chains, independent stores and public spaces all over the country.

FaceWatch, a leader in facial recognition security solutions in the UK, is used on more than 10,000 premises across the country and hundreds of stores throughout London. While the company has received criticism, it says that it fully complies with GDPR and meets the privacy guidelines set by the ICO.

Although British retailers now view facial recognition as a necessary addition to their security systems, they seem to be backing away from using it for customer services and store payments.

Lloyds was the first banking group to trial biometric authentication systems in the UK, to include facial recognition. The trial was carried out working with Microsoft, allowing customers to log into their Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland Internet banking accounts using facial or fingerprint scans. However, after trialing the technology in 2017/2018, the banking group has decided not to implement.

NatWest and TSB banks have both announced this year to allow users to open current accounts without visiting their branches, by submitting a ‘selfie’ together with their photo ID. Even so, customers can not use face scans to access their bank accounts, as was initially planned by Lloyds.

In reality, it seems that the British public isn’t even ready for self-checkout services, face scan, or not. This month the country’s second largest supermarket chain, Sainsbury’s scrapped a three-month trial to operate a completely self-service store in central London, after coming around to the view that the nation’s consumers aren’t yet ready for the technologies involved.

So, let’s face it, either the UK isn’t yet ready for the future of retail or facial recognition isn’t destined to be part of that future.

This feature was first published by Carrington Malin on Linkedin.

Carrington Malin is an entrepreneur, marketing professional and advisor who has worked across almost every sector of technology. He helps companies, startup ventures and public sector organisations develop marketing strategies, digital initiatives and leverage new marketing technologies. He also publishes a daily Asia AI News digest. You can connect with Carrington on Twitter @CarringtonMalin or via Linkedin https://lnkd.in/furZ3s9