In August I wrote a column about
facial recognition in advertising. It was in response to the announcement from
one of Sir Alan Sugar’s companies, Amscreen, that it was fitting facial
recognition cameras to billboards to allow them to show more targeted
advertising to individuals. The cameras could tell whether someone was male or
female and approximate age and deliver ads
appropriately.
Fast forward just three months and
now Tesco has announced that it is planning to install Amscreen technology in
all of its 450 petrol stations in a five year deal. The announcement means that
very soon Tesco petrol purchasers, when standing at the till to pay, will have
their face scanned. Adverts will then appear on a screen in front of your face
targeted at whether you are male or female and approximate age, all while you
are struggling to remember your pin and what pump you filled up
at.
Although Amscreen and Tesco clearly
stated that no images are stored and no data is collected, the announcement was
met with the usual cries of despair from those concerned about data protection
and privacy and intrusion. The reality is that the cameras are able to detect if
they are seeing a face, its gender and approximate age and how much attention it
pays to the screen. They claim a 90% accuracy rate at being able to detect male
or female and unsurprisingly this accuracy rate goes down if the person is
wearing a hat or covering their face in some way.
In August I
finished my column by questioning whether the advancement of advertising
technology and its ability to engage may actually turn people off through a
sense of invasion. That question now seems much more real. With the screens
expected to reach five million customers in the UK
Tim Youngman is director of
marketing for Archant
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