Kmart will look to fight a finding it broke privacy laws by using facial recognition cameras on customers, which the retailer says is needed to curb increasing theft and violence in its stores.

Kmart placed the technology — which used CCTV to check everyone entering the stores against a database of banned customers — at entrances and return counters in 28 stores across the country to detect refund fraud for two years until July 2022.

In a decision on Thursday, Federal Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind found the chain did not notify shoppers or seek consent to use the technology to collect their biometric information, “which is sensitive personal information and enjoys higher protections under the Privacy Act”.

It comes as major retailers push for stronger laws to curb soaring levels of cr

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