"It's like Facebook for criminals" - Ballantynes Using Retail Crime Surveillance Tool, While Risks Raised By Member of Public and Privacy Office
The Wigram examines the pandora's box that is the crime fighting tool Auror, alleged misuse by a member of Ballantynes security, & wider potential privacy issues for unsuspecting customers.
The surveillance tool Auror is up and running in the Central City department store, Ballantynes.
The Auror promotional film (Source: Auror)
Christchurch’s oldest department store is using a private intelligence gathering tool to combat retail theft. The Auror app allows Ballantynes to upload photos and descriptions of alleged thieves into a central database.
The Auror database can be accessed by other retailers and the New Zealand Police.
However, a source has alleged that a Ballantyne’s security worker has used Auror for purposes other than fighting retail crime.
“She [the security worker] think’s it’s the best tool against shoplifting. And it’s the only thing they’ve got [to combat retail crime].”
“So you’ve got all the events this person has done, with solid proof, and the amounts they have stolen the value…”
In an interview with Q & A’s Jack Tame, Police Minister Ginny Andersen attributed the near doubling of reported retail crime between 2018 and 2022 to Auror. “…It enables small low-level crime to be reported into Police,” she told Tame. “And the use of that app has caused so much more crime at the low level to be reported.”
The source explained “whenever the police c[a]tch them doing something else, all the other charges get laid against [them] all at once."
Police data attributed to Cathedral Square from May to August 2023 shows two spikes in retail offending and a close to 250% jump for June 2023 on the 2022 figure.
May 62 (38 in 2022)
June 69 (28)
July 47 (42)
August 49 (60)
Drilling down, the number of offenders Police processed at the Central Station for retail offending for that period stayed relatively low at 7, 8, 6 and 4 offenders respectively despite the spike.
However, The Wigram has not yet established a link between the spike and Auror.
Ballantynes on Cashel Street
An Auror sign at a Cashel Mall entranceway to Ballantynes department store.
Source: Auror
Source: Auror
The Auror app
Auror allows retailers to create an offender profile.
Source: Auror
They can upload video and imagery, and “merge” all information regarding that person into one profile. The profile can describe the person’s:
gender
build
appearance (scars, tattoos, piercings, clothing, bags, etc)
behaviour (“aggressive”, “physically abusive”, “weapon involved”, “intoxicated”, “under the influence”, “erratic”)
method of offending. That includes information regarding entry, initial observation, product selection, concealments, and when were they approached.
the type of event and event details
Retailers and their security staff will receive a “news feed” on their smart phones. The feed features alleged offenders from around the city and can show which Auror-using retail outlets the person has been frequenting.
“It’s mainly just images [video footage],” that's uploaded, says the source, and shared with “everyone else on the newsfeed [and Police]. Some text ‘can you identify this person?’ The security guards are keeping it quiet because they know it’s working.”
“Like when you see a few other people’s profiles it might say 10 events, but when you click on his it’s well over 200. And that’s stealing.
Their friend said “it’s like Facebook for criminals.”
Source: Auror
They can also search for people by entering an item of clothing (“red shirt”), by adding other information, or asking a question (“Who has stolen an I-phone?”).
“You can just keep scrolling on the newsfeed until you find a person that you want.”
They say that previously you could search for someone but that was stopped.
They questioned who was checking on how the app was used. They alleged a member of the public asked a security worker whether a specific person featured on the app. The source was also able to see the news feed on the security worker’s phone.
The Wigram raised these allegations with Ballantynes. A spokesperson declined to comment.
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