Wegmans is using cameras with facial recognition in stores. Are any in NC?
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- Wegmans deployed facial recognition cameras in some stores.
- The store uses facial recoginition to identify people “previously flagged for misconduct.”
- Wegmans would not say whether the technology is used at North Carolina stores.
The popular grocery store chain Wegmans has started using cameras with facial recognition technology in some of its stores.
“Like many retailers, we use cameras to help identify individuals who pose a risk to our people, customers, or operation,” the New York-based grocery said in a news release. “In a small fraction of our stores located in communities that exhibit an elevated risk, we have deployed cameras equipped with facial recognition technology.”
Wegmans does not make public which security measures are used at individual stores “for security and safety purposes,” company public relations representative Marcie Rivera told The News & Observer in an email. However, Rivera said stores using the cameras “are in a handful of states.”
Wegmans has four stores in North Carolina, all in the Triangle — in Raleigh, Morrisville, Chapel Hill and Wake Forest. It is building a fifth location in Charlotte.
The company has posted “mandated signage” to notify customers about the technology at stores in New York City to comply with local regulations, Wegmans said in the news release.
Can NC shoppers know if facial recognition technology is in use?
But at North Carolina stores, shoppers may not see signs alerting them that the facial recognition technology is in use — if a particular location is, in fact, using the technology.
State law does not specifically address how municipalities can regulate facial recognition technology, Rebecca L. Fisher-Gabbard, an assistant professor of public law and government at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, told The N&O in an email.
However, North Carolina municipalities have “broadly construed” powers to “define, prohibit, regulate, or abate acts, omissions, or conditions, detrimental to the health, safety, or welfare of its citizens and the peace and dignity of the city, and may define and abate nuisances.” A municipality could argue that it has the authority to regulate a business’s use of facial recognition technology because it affects the “health, safety, or welfare” of residents, Fisher-Gabbard said.
“Another factor to consider is whether state or federal law has preempted local government action in this area,” Fisher-Gabbard said. “I’m not aware of any statewide laws that explicitly or implicitly preclude local government regulation of private businesses’ use of [facial recognition technology].”
How is Wegmans using facial recognition data?
The technology is being used to keep Wegmans stores “secure and safe,” the grocer said in the news release.
Only facial recognition data, and not retinal scans or voice prints, is collected and used to “identify individuals who have been previously flagged for misconduct.”
The grocer identifies “persons of interest” based on incidents that have occurred on its properties and, occasionally, information from law enforcement for criminal or missing persons cases, Wegmans said.
Images and video are kept “only as long as necessary for security purposes.” Wegmans does not say how long exactly images and video are retained, citing “security reasons,” but said the timing is in line with industry standards.
Facial recognition data is not shared with a third party, the grocer said.
The company knows the concerns about fairness and bias in facial recognition, and said the technology is “one investigative lead.”
Still, the company’s announcement is raising questions.
A New York legislator has written to Colleen Wegman, the grocer’s president and CEO, requesting that Wegmans disclose whether biometric surveillance is being used in stores outside of New York City, and answer questions about how the data will be used and shared.
And some shoppers in New York have said they would stop shopping at the grocery store, after learning about the facial recognition technology, according to The Gothamist.
This story was originally published January 12, 2026 at 11:10 AM with the headline "Wegmans is using cameras with facial recognition in stores. Are any in NC?."
