Grocery Outlet has begun installing technology at several Bay Area locations that stores images of customers’ faces alongside security camera footage and compares them to a “watch list” of information about suspected criminal activity shared by other retailers.
The Emeryville-based Grocery Outlet has quietly rolled out facial recognition technology at four San Francisco stores, including in Mission, Portola, Bayview and Richmond counties, to combat shoplifting, Mission Local reports. Small signs near store entrances alert customers that “face-matching software” is being used for security reasons, similar to a system used by some Castro bars to identify blacklisted customers, SFist reported last month.
According to the Chronicle, similar signs have also been spotted at Grocery Outlet locations in Pleasant Hill and Concord, directing customers to a QR code with SAFR Guard’s privacy policy. It remains unclear how many other grocery stores use the system and how long it has been installed. According to Mission Local, Grocery Outlet stores are leased to independent store operators.
SAFR Guard, operated by the company SAFR, reportedly captures facial images of people entering stores and combines that information with surveillance camera footage and retailer-provided information about people suspected of theft, violence or other illegal activities. The company maintains a “watch list” of people identified through previous incidents and sends alerts to retailers when someone on the list enters a store.
“SAFR Guard is designed for security purposes to help retailers prevent unlawful behavior and maintain a safe environment by identifying individuals who are reasonably suspected of engaging in activities,” the company’s privacy policy states, “such as, but not limited to, theft, fraud, violence, harassment or other malicious, deceptive or unlawful behavior.”
SAFR President Charisse Jacques told Mission Local the system was intended for “targeted use” rather than comprehensive surveillance.
The technology does not appear to violate California privacy laws, according to Mario Trujillo, a senior attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, consumers can reportedly opt out of the sale or sharing of biometric data collected by retailers, but must contact the company after their data has already been collected. Individuals who believe they are on SAFR’s watchlist can request deletion of their biometric data.
Privacy advocates have raised concerns about collecting biometric data from every customer who enters a store, even those not suspected of wrongdoing. Trujillo told Mission Local that facial recognition systems can produce inaccurate results, especially when images are taken from a distance or in less than ideal conditions.
Facial recognition systems have also been criticized for racial differences in accuracy. Studies have found that black women are disproportionately more likely to be misidentified than white men. According to Mission Local, the Federal Trade Commission banned Rite Aid from using facial recognition technology for five years in 2023 after the agency found that the chain’s system repeatedly misidentified customers as shoplifters.
“Any time a company collects highly sensitive personal information, there is a risk that the data will be shared, breached or later confiscated by the government,” Trujillo told the Chronicle. “Companies should ask themselves: Is it worth violating everyone’s privacy?”
Lee Hepner, an attorney with the American Economic Liberties Project who previously worked on drafting San Francisco’s 2019 ban that barred city agencies from using facial recognition software, said the ability to opt out may not be realistic for many consumers.
“Grocery Outlet is an affordable grocer that targets low-income consumers who may have no other choice,” Hepner told Mission Local. “There is a coercive element to this data collection because some people cannot simply decide not to go to the supermarket.”
Related: Three Castro bars raise privacy concerns over facial recognition cameras at the door
Image: Jesse with Google Maps
https://sfist.com/2026/07/14/four-sf-grocery-outlet-stores-are-now-using-facial-recognition-software-at-entrances/
