Bandai Namco is introducing facial recognition technology to its One Piece Card Game shops in Japan, a measure aimed at curbing scalping and ensuring fairer sales opportunities for customers. This move follows a similar initiative by The Pokémon Company, which also employs facial recognition in its stores to combat resellers who buy products in bulk for inflated resale prices.
Starting August 22, fans entering One Piece Card Game shops will be identified by a facial recognition system. This technology will monitor recent purchase history and store visit frequency, potentially denying sales to individuals deemed suspicious or attempting to buy excessive quantities. The stated goal is to provide all customers with equitable access to products, while also enhancing the safety and security of store employees. Incidents such as large-scale robberies and even homicides at Pokémon card events have underscored the need for such security measures.
Bandai Namco's in-store privacy policy indicates that it may collect personal data, including video and images, during offline interactions. For online purchases, the company may gather information from search and browsing history, as well as IP addresses. Suspicious individuals will be prevented from making purchases through these systems.
While these privacy-invading measures are likely to draw criticism from some consumers, the persistent issue of scalping has compelled both Bandai Namco and The Pokémon Company to take decisive action. For the time being, these facial recognition systems are limited to stores in Japan and are not expected to be rolled out internationally in the near future.