The Store Is Scanning Your Face. What the Sign Means and What You Can Ask For

What the camera at the door does

1. It scans every face that walks in. The system turns each face into a faceprint, a set of measurements a computer can compare.
2. It compares that faceprint with a watchlist. The list holds people the store or its supplier has linked to theft, violence or abuse.
3. A match sends staff an alert. A trained person is supposed to check the alert before anyone acts on it (Retail Gazette, describing the Facewatch system Sainsbury’s uses).

How long a store keeps the scans of everyone else depends on the supplier and the local law. Ask the store, because few signs say.

Who is using it

• Sainsbury’s (UK): Facewatch cameras in 55 stores, with up to 150 more planned before Christmas 2026 (Retail Gazette).
• ShopRite (Connecticut): signs on store doors say facial recognition is in use. Wakefern, which owns ShopRite, says it is used to deter theft, the footage is “regularly deleted” and it is never sold (WFSB). The same report says Wegmans uses the technology too.
• Madison Square Garden (New York City): its use of face scanning at the door led to the city’s “Ban the Scan” bill, Intro 213, which would bar businesses open to the public from using biometric surveillance on customers (intro.nyc). It was still in committee at the time of writing.

What you can ask for, by place

Many other US states with privacy laws treat biometric data as sensitive and let you ask a business what it holds and to delete it, though most include exceptions for preventing crime. Our guide to whether facial recognition is legal covers more states. This is general information, not legal advice.

If you are wrongly stopped

It happens. In August 2026 a Sainsbury’s shopper in Dulwich was asked to leave and told to contact Facewatch. The next day Facewatch confirmed he had been wrongly removed, and it was the second wrongful removal at Sainsbury’s that year (Retail Gazette).

1. Stay calm and ask two questions: which company runs the system, and what you were flagged for.
2. Write down the store, the date and the time, and the name of the staff member if they give it.
3. Contact the supplier and the store in writing. Ask whether you are on a watchlist, what data they hold about you, and for it to be corrected or deleted.
4. Complain to the regulator if they do not answer: the ICO in the UK, or your state Attorney General in the US.

Our post on wrongful arrests by facial recognition shows how a false match can go further when police are involved.

The search a store does not run

A store’s system checks your face against its own watchlist, inside its own stores. Face search engines such as PimEyes compare any uploaded photo with faces collected from public web pages, and anyone with a browser can use them.

• One photo is enough. A picture from a phone, a pair of camera glasses or a CCTV still can be uploaded and matched to pages that carry your name.
• Each engine has its own opt-out, with its own rules about which photos it accepts.
• Engines crawl again, so a removed face can be indexed from a new copy.

Common doubts

“Can I refuse the scan?”

In most places the only way to refuse is to shop somewhere else. Illinois and Texas require consent first, and Connecticut and New York City require a notice, so check the sign before you go in.

“Is the store selling my face?”

In New York City selling biometric data is illegal. Elsewhere, ask for the store’s policy. ShopRite’s owner says its footage is never sold.

“Can FacePrivacy get me off a store watchlist?”

No. That request has to come from you, using the steps above. We handle the public face search engines: we file opt-out requests with the ones we support and re-file them as necessary.

“What does that cost?”

US$9.99 a month, or US$7.99 a month billed annually. Cancel from your dashboard whenever you like. Web payments made through Stripe carry a 30-day money-back guarantee.