(Reuters) -An Australian regulator has found Wesfarmers’ budget department store Kmart breached privacy by collecting personal and sensitive information via a facial recognition technology system designed to combat refund fraud, it said on Thursday.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) found that Kmart did not notify shoppers or seek their consent to use the technology to collect their biometric information.

The watchdog said that Kmart deployed the technology to capture the details of every customer who entered 28 of its retail stores between June 2020 and July 2022.

According to the OAIC, Kmart argued it was not required to obtain consent because of an exemption in the Privacy Act that applies when organisations believe they need to collect personal information

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