Sainsbury's suspends facial recognition after second false shoplifter ID in under a year

Sainsbury's paused AI facial recognition at its East Dulwich store after customer Matt Arnold (46) was wrongly flagged as a shoplifter and ejected. A Sainsbury's spokesperson blamed human error, not the Facewatch system. In September 2025, shopper Warren Rajah was falsely identified at a separate Sainsbury's branch. Similar errors have been reported at Home Bargains and B&M.