Woman ejected from Home Bargains stores after facial recognition misidentification, leading to false shoplifting accusation

Summary

A woman was mistakenly accused of shoplifting after a facial recognition system wrongly flagged her as a thief, leading to her being ejected from two Home Bargains stores in Greater Manchester in May and June. Danielle Horan was escorted out of the stores without an initial explanation and later discovered her image had been added to a facial recognition watchlist falsely alleging she stole about £10 worth of items. The retail security firm Facewatch acknowledged the distress caused and stated a review found the items had been paid for. Horan described the experience as stressful and anxiety-inducing, with her bank account confirming she had paid for the items. Facewatch suspended the involved Home Bargains branches from using its system following the incident. Civil liberties group Big Brother Watch reported over 35 similar cases of individuals wrongly flagged by facial recognition systems.