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Ask HN: How do self-checkout cameras recording your face prevent theft?

13 points by intermittently ↗ HN
I've noticed cameras pointed at a customer's face popping up in self-checkout lines at Target and Walmart. Do these actually prevent theft, since they don't seem to record the area where you scan/bag your items?

At first I thought that the cameras might record your face so that the companies could later cross-reference that recording with the time(s) that items were stolen... but if there is a separate such system in place to catch stolen items, I sure don't see it.

(I feel like I should specify that I have no interest in stealing items via the self-checkout line; I'm just annoyed I'm getting recorded if that recording serves no practical purpose.)

9 comments

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brlewis
Couldn't the separate system just be employees, or be a security camera you don't see?
[deleted]
(comment deleted)
timothybone
It's valuable data. It's probably good for many things, from catching criminals, to selling to you personally, even to selling that data to other stores.
intermittently
No disagreement on any particular point, but that doesn't explain/address why the cameras are on the self-checkout lanes only (as far as I know, anyway).
sjs382
A clear photo of someone's face is very useful if they are found (via other means) to be engaging in criminal activity.

Have you ever seen low-res security footage where the perpetrator was hard to identify? Timestamps + secondary cameras can help with identification.

ryanlol
Self-checkout things get hit with lots of credit card fraud, the cameras help when the fraud gets so big that it's worth investigating.
intermittently
Ah! That makes sense, and I hadn't thought of it. Thanks!
ryanlol
A while ago I used to do business with a guy who could sell me pretty high amounts of gift cards at 30% of the value for bitcoin, after a while I got him to fess up on how he was getting them.

Turns out he was hitting up the local home depot self checkout with credit card dumps he bought online, and picking up 100 $50 iTunes cards in less than 2 hours.

I ended up referring the guy to someone with higher risk tolerance, but I hope that gives you a better understanding of the scale. That's simply not possible with conventional checkouts.

deft
Most of loss prevention is based on fear. There's no real way to 'stop' it physically from happening.