The Privacy Commissioner finds Bunnings Warehouse interfered with the privacy of its customers by using facial recognition without consent in 63 of its stores over a three-year period.

Wesfarmers-owned Bunnings, the country's biggest home improvement chain, breached the privacy of thousands of customers by using facial recognition technology without gaining consent, an Australian watchdog has found.

Our business has received criticism for attempting to defend a basic right of our customers and staff – safety from violence and abuse.

Hardware giant Bunnings has defended its use of facial recognition cameras to protect staff and customers from violent and aggressive behaviour after the regulator ruled the technology was ‘intrusive’ and interfered with the privacy of everyone who entered the stores.

A watchdog has found the retail giant interfered with the privacy of hundreds of thousands of customers in a landmark case.

In a case exposed by CHOICE, the privacy commissioner has found that home hardware retail giant Bunnings breached the Privacy Act.

"We had hoped that based on our submissions, the Commissioner would accept our position that the use of FRT appropriately balanced our privacy obligations and the need to protect our team, customers,

The faces of every person entering 63 stores in Victoria and New South Wales were captured between 2018 and 2021.

The landmark ruling found Bunnings had taken customers' private information without consent, failed to take steps to notify them and had left gaping holes in its privacy policy.