A number of branches of Ekoplaza, Plus, Spar and a branch of DekaMarkt monitor their customers with "AI surveillance. Daily newspaper Trouw published this recently.
The retailers use software from Veesion. The French company says it has 4,000 customers worldwide, about 20 of which are in the Netherlands. Veesion has been criticized in the past by French privacy regulator CNIL for their software not being AVG compliant. "Society has definitely entered the era of big data and algorithms," said Marc Schuilenburg, professor of digital surveillance at Erasmus University.
Civil rights movement Bits of Freedom has been critical of the news: "What you buy reveals a lot about your life and diet. What if health insurers get access to that? That sounds extreme, but something like this already happens with cars: some insurance companies monitor your driving style and offer a lower premium if you drive safely. If you pull up hard all the time or brake abruptly, you actually pay more."
