‘Humiliated’: Sainsbury’s store pauses AI scanning after false shoplifting accusation

Supermarket chain says ‘human error’, not its Facewatch technology, to blame for ejecting a customer

Sainsbury’s has paused the use of AI face scanning in one of its stores after a customer was wrongly identified as a shoplifter and ejected from the shop.

“I was embarrassed, mortified even, and felt quite humiliated and powerless,” Matt Arnold, 46, said of his ordeal.

The comedy promoter was buying supplies in the store in East Dulwich, in south-east London , for a standup event at Dulwich Hamlet football club when, after scanning his items and a Nectar card, he was approached by two managers who told him he could not be served owing to an earlier incident. He was then asked to leave and they tried to escort him from the store.

“They simply told me they would be walking me out,” Arnold said. “At that point I did stand my ground and said I would be walking myself out. I was determined to keep some dignity. On this point, if nothing else, they did relent.”

As he left, he saw an overhead CCTV monitor alert with a red circle surrounding his face. He asked the shop staff to keep his shopping in the trolley so his friend could come and pick up the supplies for the comedy night happening soon nextdoor.

“I think they were quite confused by this, understandably, but agreed and my colleague Dave went in to pay for and pick up the shop about five minutes later. There was no pause for thought from the staff, no suggestion that they understood this is not how a shoplifter would behave. Just blindly following the machine’s orders.”

Sainsbury’s head office apologised to Arnold the next day and has paused use of its AI-assisted Facewatch technology in the store while an investigation takes place. But Arnold says the technology should be paused in all stores and he is worried about the extent to which AI is being used in society.

“Anyone could be falsely accused and at some point that will be someone vulnerable, someone with mental health issues like anxiety. It’s inevitable,” he said. “Also, I would worry about the confidence-destroying effect of it happening to a younger person or someone less willing or able to stand up for themselves as I have done.”

The supermarket chain uses facial recognition technology to identify shoplifters and other criminals, and says this is to keep staff safe from abuse. But the tech has been plagued with issues. Last September another shopper, Warren Rajah , was ordered out of a branch in Elephant and Castle, south London, after being wrongly identified by the same Facewatch software. Similar cases have occurred including in Home Bargains and B&M stores.

Arnold said: “Sainsbury’s, and indeed any other company using Facewatch, should disable it immediately, at least until they can guarantee the system works flawlessly. They have announced that they are suspending the surveillance in the East Dulwich store, where my incident occurred, but it’s a centralised system, so why not suspend it in every store? If there is a potential problem in East Dulwich – be it with the AI itself or the implementation of it – there are potential problems in all the stores.”

He said he was concerned about the rise of AI in society. “I don’t like surveillance culture, but I can see how at times it is necessary. What isn’t necessary is allowing machines to make decisions and then expect humans to scuttle off and do their bidding unquestioningly.”

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “We have contacted Mr Arnold to apologise for his experience at our Dulwich superstore. The incident was caused by human error, not the facial recognition technology. Customers can be reassured that the Facewatch system has a 99.98% accuracy rate, and every match is reviewed by a trained manager.”

A Facewatch spokesperson said their technology was not at fault in this case. “A correct alert was sent to the retailer, but was subsequently subject to human error in the way it was handled in store,” they said.

The company said suspending a store was a “precautionary measure” to prevent further alerts while staff underwent additional training.

Sainsbury’s said that alerts remained visible on staff devices for up to an hour and it logged all misidentifications.