Toby

Your grocery store is watching you.

Not because the manager is concerned you've bought dried mangoes for the fifth time this week.

It's literally watching you using facial recognition technology, and it's a trend I want to talk about on today's edition of Toby's Trends.

Wegmans, the popular grocery chain,

is in the middle of a media firestorm after it botched a reveal of some of the tech it uses in its stores.

It disclosed via in-store signage that it uses biometric surveillance in New York City locations, a fact that was alarming to say the least for its patrons who were previously unaware any scanning was occurring while they were browsing for rotisserie chickens.

While this is a story about New York City, that's mainly because it's one of the only places in the country that requires businesses to disclose if they are collecting biometrics on customers.

But this iceberg lettuce goes deeper than just Wegmans.

Other big US retailers like Walmart, Kroger, and Home Depot all employ similar technology, including Rite Aid, who in 2023,

agreed to a five-year ban from using facial recognition technology after it was found to be falsely accusing customers of crimes, which is what retailers say they use the technology for.

Wegmans released a statement saying that cameras are in operation in a small fraction of our stores located in communities that exhibit an elevated risk, and they are looking for people previously flagged for misconduct.

But Neil, we're talking about privacy concerns in New York City and Wegmans in this story, but it could easily apply to a different retailer in a different city too.

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But I think what you're seeing, too, is the public's tolerance to facial recognition varies by location a lot because facial recognition...

whether you like it or not, is very much a part of our society these days.

It is very common in places like airports, in places like stadiums, and that the public is okay with.

You understand the reason why you might need facial recognition in a place like the airport.

There is a much lower tolerance in a place like a grocery store, in retail locations in general, which is why we every once in a while see a firestorm appear around chains because you're

you don't think you're being watched while you're shopping for your groceries.