If you’re one of the 8 million or so Australians who shop at Kmart every year, chances are you were being watched.

Not just by staff members or security, or even typical CCTV cameras, but by specialised facial recognition technology (FRT) that was rolled out into more than two dozen of the retailer’s stores between 2020 and 2022.

Every shopper who entered had their face scanned and stored in a system designed to catch refund fraudsters.

On Thursday, following a three-year investigation, Australia’s privacy commissioner ruled that the practice was in breach of the nation’s privacy laws, and thus illegal. It follows a similar finding against Bunnings – which has the same parent company, Wesfarmers – a decision under review by the Administrative Review Tribunal.

The rulings, while not car

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