Coles dismisses ‘wild’ claim that every customer is secretly given an ‘electronic signature’ when they enter
Coles has been forced to deny placing an ‘electronic signature’ on every customer when they enter the store.
A customer said he would never shop at the supermarket again after claiming staff told him cameras follow customers around the store and place a red dot on their heads that turns green after they pay to deter theft.
However, Coles has strongly refuted the claims, saying the customer’s story is false and that facial recognition technology is not used in stores.
‘While shopping, my partner suddenly has to go to the toilet. However, the gate wouldn’t let her out of the store so she ran around in panic until she found an employee who opened the gate for her,” the Gold Coast man said in a Facebook post.
“When we talked to three different employees about it afterwards, we were told that every time we enter the store, an electronic ‘signature’ is printed in our heads as a red dot that is recognized on their computer screens.”
Coles has refuted claims from a customer who said staff told him the store uses facial recognition technology to place an ‘electronic signature’ on each customer
He said he was told the red dot turns green after customers pay and open security gates so they can leave.
‘Three questions about this: Why aren’t we told this when we come in? No signs at all. What effect does that electronic imprint have on my body? What health consequences are there? Does it cause cancer or some other disease,” he complained.
“Is this a precursor to the digital currency where we are banned from shopping if our social credit score does not meet the current standard?”
The disgruntled shopper’s post was shared 1,600 times on Facebook and divided commenters, with many expressing skepticism.
“This isn’t true at all!” said one user and a second replied: ‘Sounds very sci-fi and unreal. What a strange experience’.
Coles has strongly denied the claims, saying the customer’s story is false and that facial recognition technology is not used in stores.
“When you go back inside, remember your tin foil hat!” joked a third.
‘That’s news to me. I’ve never had that problem when shopping at Coles,’ one person added.
A spokesperson for Coles told FEMAIL that absolutely no ‘signature imprint’ technology is used, as the man claimed.
‘We do not use facial recognition technology in our stores. The claims made in this social post are not true,” they said.
“The safety of our team members and customers is our top priority, and we have a range of security measures in place to reduce theft from our stores, including new smart gate technology.
‘This technology uses overhead sensors in the checkout area to detect movement from the point of sale to the exit, automatically opening the gates once customers have completed payment for their items.’