Thursday, 19 October 2023

Cost of living

Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (09:52): The big supermarket giants are investing millions in tracking shoppers’ every movement inside the supermarket. It is something I find deeply concerning. The surveillance includes multiple overhead cameras, body cameras, cameras on the check-outs, trolley locks and even automatic gates that literally lock you in like a criminal. I am sure we have all packed our groceries at those check-outs. We know how reliable the technology is – I am saying sarcastically. They say they are worried about theft, but apparently not the privacy of the everyday person just trying to buy some milk at the shops. Where is that data even going? Who will be able to access it? It has been reported that the current rise in theft is closely linked to the rising cost of living – surprise, surprise. People cannot afford food due to supermarket price gouging. So it only makes sense that if the supermarkets were so worried about theft, they would simply make food affordable. They are making a billion dollars in profit after all. I am concerned about the high surveillance of shoppers and the lack of transparency around that data, but more importantly, I am concerned that seemingly nothing is being done to make sure that food is affordable so that people do not have to worry about whether they can afford to feed themselves and their families.