A new security product aimed at jewelry stores and pawnshops is putting facial matching at the entrance of the store, raising a direct question for customers: what happens to an image of your face when you walk through the door?
Digital Bodyguard’s announced system uses an entryway camera to capture faces and compare them with a company database that the vendor says contains more than 180 million criminal records aggregated from 36,000 county, state, and federal law-enforcement sources. The company says participating stores can receive an alert when the system identifies a probable match. Those database size and performance descriptions come from the company and launch coverage; they have not been independently audited in the reporting reviewed.
The system is a product that individual retailers may choose to install. Its launch does not mean that every jewelry store scans visitors, that every shopper’s image is sent to a government database, or that this practice is mandatory across the industry. The launch coverage describes images being checked against Digital Bodyguard’s proprietary database. It does not establish how many stores have adopted the service.
There is also an important distinction between the company’s public privacy claims and the responsibilities described in its own user agreement. Digital Bodyguard says the technology is designed not to collect biometric identifiers that trigger certain state notice or consent rules. Its End User License Agreement, however, says the customer using the service is responsible for determining whether use is lawful in its location and for providing any required notices and obtaining any required authorizations or consent. That contract language does not by itself decide what the law requires in every state, but it makes clear that the company places compliance responsibility on the retailer.
For customers who do not want their face analyzed by a store security system, the practical question is whether a particular store uses one and what its notice says. Retailers considering the technology have their own questions to answer about accuracy, false matches, data handling, signage, and local privacy requirements. Security products can help businesses respond to risk, but customers should be able to understand when a system is in use and how their information is handled.
