Wegmans Is Using Facial ID Technology on NYC Customers

Shoppers could get more than they bargained for at an upscale supermarket in the East Village.

The Astor Place Wegmans supermarket, at 770 Broadway, is collecting biometric identifier information from customers, meaning the store collects, retains, converts, stores, or shares data that could include facial recognition, eye scans, and voiceprints, for the stated reason of keeping the store safe and secure. But a statement from Wegmans says, “We do not collect other biometric data such as retinal scans or voice prints.”

At the store’s entrance, a sign states the information can be used to “identify or help identify” people, and that the store uses facial recognition technology to “protect the safety and security” of patrons and employees.

The supermarket chain, headquartered upstate, in Rochester, NY, started collecting data in a 2024 pilot and recently expanded the practice to its Astor Place location, which opened in 2024, and at its store in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which opened in 2019, acccording to Gothamist. The company is also planning to open a second location in Manhattan on the Upper West Side at a former Bed Bath & Beyond on 1932 Broadway, between West 64th and 65th streets, according to signage at the site, but there is still no official opening date, reports the West Side Rag.

Due to a 2021 city law, businesses that collect biometric data are required to post signs notifying shoppers of the data collection.

Wegmans said in a statement on Jan. 8 that the chain has deployed cameras equipped with facial recognition technology in a “small fraction” of stores in communities that “exhibit an elevated risk.”

“This technology is solely used for keeping our stores secure and safe,” the statement added. “The system collects facial recognition data and only uses it to identify individuals who have been previously flagged for misconduct.”

Images and video are retained “only as long as necessary for security purposes and then disposed of,” according to the statement. An asset-protection team determines persons of interest based on incidents occurring on Wegmans property and on a case-by-case basis based on “information from law enforcement for criminal or missing persons cases.” The chain does not share facial recognition scan data with any third party.

Wegmans did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Straus News about the chain’s collection of biometric data. The company has more than 100 stores in 10 states, but appears to be using the facial ID in only a limited number of stores.

Facial recognition technology became a flashpoint in 2023 when Madison Square Garden boss James Dolan used the technology to block at least four lawyers who worked at law firms that had litigation against MSG or the Knicks and Rangers. Dolan prevailed in court cases that sued him over the facial ID.

In June 2024, City Council Member Shahana Hanif introduced a bill to limit the use of facial recognition technology by businesses. “I’m all too familiar with the negative consequences of using fear to justify excessive and bias surveillance,” Hanif said at the time.

Privacy advocates said that the technology is particularly prone to misidentifying Blacks and Asians. But Hanif’s bill stalled in committee, in part because some opponents did not want to pass a bill that limited retailers who were trying to protect themselves against theft.

Ahilya Ellis, a shopper from Greenwich Village, said she thinks the biometric data collection is “a little weird” but that it doesn’t bother her too much. She said the location is near a high school and that there is “pretty significant” shoplifting from Wegmans.

John Leighton, from Park Slope, is a frequent Wegmans customer and said he has no problem with the store collecting biometric data, but he understands why it might concern some people and he doesn’t know the purpose of it, as he’s never felt unsafe in the supermarket.

“I have a smartphone that follows me around everywhere. I’m not particularly bothered,” Leighton said. “I’ve got no problem with it.”

Leighton added that he has never seen any disturbances or “sketchy behavior” at the Astor Place Wegmans location and that it shocked him to see that the store is collecting biometric data.

“I never feel unsafe in there,” he said. “It’s just wall-to-wall yuppies in there.”