However, the Data Protection Inspectorate (Andmekaitse inspektsioon) says that under current law, putting in place tech of this kind would violate privacy requirements.

Speaking on behalf of the The Retailers' Association (Kaupmeeste liit), CEO of the Kaubamaja department store Erkki Laugus said: "Our concept is to use facial recognition to identify individuals who are consistently involved in shoplifting, essentially committing thefts on a daily basis, so we can quickly locate them and either prevent their illegal activities or apprehend them more effectively."

However at present in Estonia, automatic facial recognition without consent is not permitted under law.

Data Protection Inspectorate head of tech Urmo Parm said: "We're not just talking about the thieves or criminals that need to be found."

"To identify them in a public space or store among other shoppers, scanning everyone in the store would be needed. This crosses the boundary of fundamental rights violations as they are today," Parm went on.

Laidi Surva, undersecretary at the Ministry of Justice, concurred, telling AK: "This is also stated in the Council of Europe's guidelines for using biometric data."

"Automatic recognition and any decision-making based on that are not currently permitted in Estonia, or in the EU more broadly," Surva went on.

"Facial recognition can certainly be one way to catch thieves, but there are other solutions," she added.

Shoplifting has surged since the Covid pandemic, with stores losing most to professional gangs operating systematically.

Erkki Laugus called for legal clarity first.

"We need to sit down with stakeholders, discuss what is reasonable and what is not, where the societal interest lies, and what makes sense to implement from this technology," he said.

To that end, a meeting is scheduled a fortnight from now, AK reported, which will bring together private security firms, the Retailers' Association, the Prosecutor's Office, and the Data Protection Inspectorate.

A recent edition of ETV investigative show "Pealtnägija" investigated the spike in shoplifting seen in recent years. Ministry of Justice data shows that last year there was a 39 percent increase in theft from stores, with claimed total losses exceeding €15 million

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