The Wegman’s Supermarket Chain Is Probably Using Facial Recognition
The New York City Wegman’s is collecting biometric information about customers.
Comments
Paul • January 7, 2026 8:07 AM
Yeah, it is. The guy who scoped and designed it is a local CCIE Security certificate holder.
Dinah • January 7, 2026 8:25 AM
Wegmans said it does not share biometric data with any third party.
Even if true, why on earth would it be ok for them to have it and bad for someone else to have it? And even if today’s corporate management sticks to this, why would I believe that future management won’t change course in a year, or 10 years, or 20 years, or 50? This isn’t a bell you can un-ring.
post script • January 7, 2026 8:58 AM
It sounds like the police feed Wegman’s a list of people they are interested in. Wegman’s helpfully gathers voiceprints, video, and eye scans (!) from everyone that walks in and feeds them into something that can identify people from the data gathered. Then they pass that information back to the police.
Surveillance pricing will just be a little frosting for them.
Anonymous • January 7, 2026 9:32 AM
@paul
He’d be persona-non-grata in any social circle I’m in were he a local.
DBA • January 7, 2026 10:10 AM
Thank you very much for posting this. Reading the article, I notice that there are Wegmans stores in Connecticut, the state that we’re likely to be moving to next year. Now I know not to patronize them. Doesn’t matter if the tech is only being used in NYC, I won’t give my custom to such a corp if I can knowingly avoid it.
SocraticGadfly • January 7, 2026 11:56 AM
Per KS, Instacart already has algorithmic pricing but says it’s not based on individual information. https://socraticgadfly.blogspot.com/2025/12/dont-trust-those-grocery-prices-but.html
mark • January 7, 2026 11:58 AM
A new Wegman’s just opened about six months ago here. My wife’s been wanting to go… but I want to ask the manager if they are. If so, tell him that we won’t patronize his store, and I’ll tell locals on nextdoor that they do it.
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Paul Lock • January 7, 2026 5:07 PM
https://fingermark.ai has been on my radar for a while. I don’t have the capability to do a deep verification, but their Point Of Sale system shows all the hallmarks of a video based surveillance system backed by AI analysis.
They’re showing up everywhere in Canada, video is embedded in the POS and existing cameras co-opted throughout a client’s place of business, backed by AI analysis, to fine tune analytics and sales conversions right at the POS in real time. The backend is used to surveil staff and report ‘inefficiencies’ or ‘deviations from procedure’ from camera data.
The horse has long since left the barn and there doesn’t seem to be a politician on the field willing to stand up for our rights.
Thank you for your ongoing attention to these matters Bruce.
Paul Lock
Founder
the Global Council for Human Rights and Democracy
Clive Robinson • January 7, 2026 11:40 PM
@ K.S., ALL,
I spoke to a friend who lives in that part of the world about it said a couple of things,
1, Wegman’s are well over priced.
2, Their supposed quality is not there so price can not be justified.
But of more interest other stores and online grocery delivery in NY already have different prices for different customers…
They found this out because although married for professional reasons they use their unmarried names and have accounts and cards in the separate names. They both jokingly say they are “Barnacle’s”[1] and do comparative shopping on a fairly regular basis and do change chosen stores from time to time.
Back when eggs were at super crazy prices they split their weekly shop in half and went in at the same time and checked out within a few minutes of each other from different self service tills. On a equal split $300 same item staples shop they found around what would be a $50 difference which is a lot… ($2500/year).
So yeah theres a lot of money to be made or saved if you are aware.
In the UK my Chosen store is ALDI simply because they are very close and I’ve never had issues with them. I’m recognised by most who work there as being “cash only with a beard” and knowing exactly what items cost back over at least two years and buying seasonal fresh when it’s plentiful (remember I do low cost “home canning” rather than high cost freezing. To be honest if you are going to freeze get one of the ones that takes the temp bellow -18C to -20C or lower.)
[1] Calling customers “Barnacles” is a term some shop managers use to refer to certain types of “bargain shoppers” who buy up the discounts own brands etc not high profit items.
Clive Robinson • January 8, 2026 12:09 AM
@ Bruce, ALL,
How is your sense of humour?
This might make you and others smile,
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K.S • January 7, 2026 8:04 AM
The next step is personalized pricing, where people are charged variable markup based on their profile.