Live Facial recognition Technology Gains Secured by Design Accreditation to Fight Retail Crime

Every year, over 20 million retail crimes are reported across the UK, costing businesses an estimated £2.6 billion annually, although the true figure is likely to be significantly higher as many offences go unreported.  What was once opportunistic theft by petty shoplifters, retail crime has become more sophisticated involving organised crime gangs, sometimes using violence, intimidation and weapons. Targets range from luxury stores and high street chains to small independent stores and charity shops.

The impact though is not just purely financial. Retail staff are frequently exposed to aggressive behaviour or confrontations and find themselves increasingly at risk leading to workplace stress and anxiety. The latest British Retail Consortium (BRC) Annual Crime Survey reported 1,600 incidents of abuse and violence towards shop workers every day in the UK.

Developed to tackle this growing crime wave, Facewatch is a cloud-based Live Facial Recognition (LFR) system that helps retailers proactively identify known offenders as soon as they enter a protected store.

Cameras positioned at store entrances automatically scan faces and turn the images into biometric templates. Two separate algorithms analyse each template detecting key facial features, including the distance between eyes, nose shape, jawline and multiple other facial reference points.

If both algorithms agree on a match with a known offender on a secure database, and the match also passes human verification by a specialist team of Facial Analysts, an alert is sent to the retailer with notifications appearing – both visually and audibly – on mobile devices carried by shop staff, who then carry out the final visual verification step.

If no match is found, the biometric data is immediately deleted, and the image is retained only as standard CCTV footage and for no longer than seven days.

Facewatch operates as part of a wider retail crime prevention ecosystem and staff are trained to use it responsibly and respond to alerts safely and in accordance with both Facewatch’s polices, and also the store’s own policies.

Retailers can upload images of individuals involved in offences to Facewatch’s database when an incident has occurred and where there is reasonable evidence of a crime having been committed. These incidents are checked and verified by Facewatch before they are accepted to the database to ensure the incident has been reported correctly, with appropriate supporting evidence, such as CCTV images and staff witness statements.

Facewatch’s crime prevention system has helped deter repeat offenders and improve staff safety and in 2025 alone, the system generated over 500,000 real-time alerts of known offenders. Retail clients include national chains and independent retailers such as Sainsburys, Budgens, Sports Direct, Costcutter, Spar, B&M and eat17.

The company takes its data responsibility seriously and operates within UK data protection legislation, is compliant with UK GDPR, and uses special category biometric data for the prevention and detection of crime. Stores using the technology are required to display clear signage informing customers that facial recognition is in use.

To find out more about Facewatch, visit their dedicated member’s page here, and watch a video on their website explaining how their software works here.

Hazel Goss, SBD Development Officer said, “It is great to have Facewatch become members of Secured by Design again, they have a truly unique facial recognition system which will help many businesses right across the country to tackle/prevent crime. I’m looking forward to working alongside them for many more years to come and watching the industry grow.”

Facewatch CEO, Nick Fisher, said, "Secured by Design accreditation is an important signal to our current and future retail partners that we are open to independent scrutiny and operate our systems and processes according to the very highest standards.

"More retailers are turning to live facial recognition because it is a proactive crime prevention deterrent that delivers results and protects frontline staff, who frequently tell us they feel safer when Facewatch is in operation".

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Secured by Design (SBD) is owned by the UK Police Service with the specific aim of reducing crime and increasing safety for businesses and individuals.

SBD seeks to improve the physical security of buildings and the surrounding area using products such as doors, windows, locks and walling systems along with fencing systems that meet the SBD Police Preferred Specification security requirements.

SBD have many partner organisations, ranging from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government through to local authorities, housing associations, developers and manufacturers and work closely with standards and certification bodies.

SBD is the only way for companies to obtain police recognition for security-related products in the UK, through the Police Preferred Specification - a product-based accreditation scheme developed 25 years ago, which provides a recognised standard for all security products that effectively deter and reduce crime. SBD work with manufacturers and standards authorities to ensure that security standards are current and updated to keep pace with emerging crime trends.

Learn more about Secured by Design and our member companies at: https://www.securedbydesign.com/