Overview
- Warren Rajah was told to leave Sainsbury’s Elephant and Castle on January 27 after staff believed he was the subject of a facial recognition hit.
- Sainsbury’s says Facewatch correctly flagged a different person and that a manager approached the wrong customer, while Facewatch confirms no alert was generated for Mr Rajah.
- The supermarket apologized, offered a £75 voucher, and said store management will receive further training following the incident.
- To confirm he was not on Facewatch’s database, Mr Rajah submitted a photo and passport under a subject access request, a step he described as intrusive, and he says he will not return to the store.
- Sainsbury’s is trialling Facewatch in selected locations including several London branches and Bath, touting high accuracy and reduced incidents, as Big Brother Watch and the ICO urge stronger safeguards and clearer redress processes.