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.

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

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.

Hardware giant Bunnings breached the privacy of likely hundreds of thousands of Australians through its use of facial recognition technology, the Privacy Commissioner ruled today. Individuals who entered the

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.

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.

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

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

Bunnings has revealed recordings of its customers as part of its use of facial recognition technology stayed within its stores, with no sensitive information uploaded to the cloud, and it worked closely with Victoria Police to develop the database.