Coles Group (ASX:COL) and Woolworths Group (ASX:WOW) are said to be testing facial recognition technology as a way to prevent crime at their outlets, the Australian Financial Review reported Monday.

A Woolworths spokesperson confirmed the completion of a trial but declined to say whether the tech will be operated in Australia, according to the report, which noted that big chains in Victoria have seen increasing crime rates.

A Coles spokesperson told MT Newswires that it does not currently use facial recognition technology and has not done a trial using this technology. Coles performed a "small, one-off, controlled proof-of-concept test of the technology" without using customer or employee data, the spokesperson said. Woolworths did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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