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NZ Herald
6 days ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
Kiwi crime-fighting software firm Auror gets big tick from UK Govt, medtech Formus Labs nears commercial launch in the US
Cooper said she wanted more UK retailers to use Auror's software, which aims to make it easier for retailers to report offences to police, including photos, and snippets of video taken on their cameras. The Home Secretary is urging police to make greater use of facial recognition technology and is behind the bill, currently winding its way through the UK Parliament. The controversial bill makes it an offence to conceal your identity from CCTV under certain circumstances (including protests), introduces the new offence of assaulting a retail worker and makes theft from a shop trial-able, regardless of the value of the goods (from a £200 [$450] threshold today). Stores including M&S, Morrisons, Boots, Tesco, Primark, and Greggs are submitting CCTV, photos and personal data on all their repeat shoplifters to Auror's platform, which is shared with police. Cooper endorsed the Kiwi software after receiving a briefing from Boots, according to the UK's Telegraph. Auror executives Mark Gleeson and Paul Fagg were invited to 10 Downing St last month - UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's residence - for what the Herald understands was a meeting with officials. Photo / LinkedIn Additionally, two Auror executives were recently invited to 10 Downing Street: UK and Europe vice president Mark Gleeson (a former tactical commander with the Royal Air Force) and UK director of law enforcement and partnerships Paul Fagg (who began his career as a police constable for London's Metro Police and rose to become a police inspector with the National Business Crime Centre before joining Auror last year). Fagg said his firm's crime intelligence platform enabled retailers to record everything that happens in their stores to tackle the 'huge under-reporting issue'. 'Police have access to Auror so that incidents they did not see before are now visible for them,' he said, adding that this enabled police and retailers to identify prolific offenders with CCTV and photographic evidence. Auror uses templates to speed up and standardise retail crime reporting. The shared data enables all the stores and police to 'join the dots' to identify prolific offenders, gather evidence for prosecutions and provide security staff on the shop doors with photo watchlists to bar entry, Fagg said. Auror says its system is used by 98% of retailers in NZ and 75% in Australia. In November last year, the Kiwi firm raised $82m at a $500m valuation, with the funds earmarked, in part, for a push to further expand in the US. Phil Thomson hadn't worked in retail or software before cofounding Auror. He worked for a big law firm, specialising in intellectual property and privacy issues. The raise was led by two new investors: Axon Enterprise (formerly Taser International) and W23, a venture fund backed by five retailers including Tesco and Woolworths. Nasdaq-listed Axon – which has a US$70 billion ($115b) market cap – invented the Taser in the 1970s. In the 2000s it expanded into bodycams, then computer-aided dispatch software and a cloud-based digital evidence platform. The firm was already an Auror technology partner. Going harder with Taser maker in the US On June 4, Axon and Auror announced a new Retail Crime Hub, which they billed as 'unlocking a more efficient way for North American law enforcement agencies to collaborate with retailers and stop crime in our communities'. Auror already had a substantial beachhead in the US through anchor customer Walmart, founder Phil Thomson said. Thomson says the issue goes well beyond shoplifting: "Retail crime isn't victimless - it's violence, it's assault, and it's organised". The new Retail Crime Hub should help it extend its reach. Thomson said a key issue was that while NZ has a single law enforcement authority (the police) dealing with retail crime, in the US it varied not just by state but by locality with some 18,000 agencies at the country level. Auror is pitched as a conduit to link them together for intel on retail crimes that fly well under the radar of national enforcement agencies. The privacy debate The fast-growing Auror has drawn a degree of privacy flak on both sides of the Tasman with a system that uses digital images which can misidentify people. But the firm has kept its nose clean with our Privacy Commissioner. Thomson emphasises that Auror doesn't operate any security cameras and does not offer live facial recognition. Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster recently gave facial recognition trials by our two major supermarket chains his cautious tick of approval. And Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says the option of having a centralised system of facial recognition is something he expects officials to consider. 'We [Auror] acknowledge the calls from groups like Retail NZ, the UK Home Secretary, and NZ Government, for the use of technology such as facial recognition technology [FRT] in the retail sector,' Thomson told Tech Insider earlier today. 'We support the responsible use of FRT by retailers to protect workers, shoppers and communities from violence and harm.' Thomson knows the legal and philosophical ins-and-outs (he's a former intellectual property lawyer with Simpson Grierson and an ex-board member of the public-interest focused NZ Council of Legal Education). But he says his support for FRT is based on what's happening every day in the real world. 'With retail violence continuing to rise, it's a no-brainer for retailers to explore how this technology [FRT] can be responsibly used in their stores. It's already used in everyday environments such as airports, hotels and casinos,' he says. 'Due to the increase in violence and crime in stores, in my view, it's now not a matter of 'if' or 'when' - it's about 'how' this can be deployed in the best way possible, protecting communities while also protecting privacy. 'Retail crime isn't victimless - it's violence, it's assault, and it's organised. We know one in 10 events involve violence or use of a weapon. Ten % of top repeat offenders are responsible for more than 60% of the crime in Kiwi stores. Furthermore, repeat offenders are up to four times more likely to be violent.' Hip to be AI: Formus Labs poised for US commercial launch Formus Labs' AI-powered, 3D planning software for joint replacement surgeries. Photo / Supplied Auckland-based med-tech Formus Labs will commercially launch in the key US market in a couple of months, founder and chief executive Dr Ju Zhang says. The launch follows the start-up gaining US Food and Drug Administration approval in December for its AI-powered, 3D software for planning orthopaedic surgeries - specifically hip replacements, with its FDA green light. Formus is lining up deals with the likes of hospital chains and insurance firms. Zhang says his firm has pilots already under way with several 'tier one' and 'tier two' players - with revenue above US$1 billion ($1.65b) or in the hundreds of millions, respectively. Formus Labs founder Dr Ju Zhang. Photo/Supplied The start-up already has a close relationship with one of the biggest names in the field - Indiana-based Zimmer Biomet, which invested US$5m ($8.25m) in the Kiwi firm in early 2022 (the round was also supported by existing local investors including Icehouse Ventures, Pacific Channel, Punakaiki Fund and Global From Day 1). Zhang says with major commercial revenue just months away, there are no plans for another sizeable raise, though it's possible Formus will stage a small round for bridging. The FDA approval was a breakthrough moment as many regulators around the world take their lead from the US agency, Zhang says. Japan - a major market for partner Zimmer - will be next cab-off-the-rank for the multi-Hi-Tech Awards winner. Members of the Formus Labs team, still based in NZ as the firm pushes into the US and Japan. Australia is also a major market. Zhang says Formus consults closely with several orthopaedic surgeons in NZ but commercial maths means the primary focus has been across the Tasman and in North America. Regardless, he and his crew of 16 staff are based in Auckland, which he anticipated will remain the hub of the firm's R&D. There's a lot that's high-tech about joint replacement surgery these days. But there's also a lot of drilling, scraping, sawing and hammering. 'In some ways, it's a lot like carpentry,' Zhang says. Formus Lab's software helps a surgeon more quickly and accurately prepare, and pick the right size joint replacement from what can run into hundreds of options. Currently one in 10 operations have to be redone and five out of 10 have some degree of post-op complication. Medtech on the rise At a HealthTech Week event in Auckland last week, the audience heard that New Zealand's MedTech sector currently generates around $2.6b in annual revenue and is projected to reach $3.8b by 2028, a compound annual growth rate of 7.8% since 2018, according to Technology Investment Network, TIN200 stats. 'It's still dominated by the big fish; the likes of F&P Healthcare,' Callaghan Innovation HealthTech head Andrew Clews told Tech Insider. 'But there is a second tier of companies coming through now that we're supporting.' Clews says venture capital money is coming on board and the number of start-ups is increasing - thanks in part to a tight-knit ecosystem. Formus Labs is one of several medtechs spun out of Auckland University's Bioengineering Institute, for example, he said. Others include Kitea Health, the maker of a world-first wireless implant for measuring brain pressure, Toku Eyes and Alimetry. The event was arranged by Te Tītoki Mataora, funded by Auckland University and MBIE and Callaghan Innovation's HealthTech Activator. Both programmes offer various forms of support for medtech start-ups, although Callaghan Innovation is being disestablished. With most staff already laid off, the HealthTech Activator has funding to last through until a new advanced research agency is created around this time next year. Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald's business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
Daily Mirror
04-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Facial recognition 'should be used more to catch thieves and thugs'
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said facial recognition is 'really important for policing' and said she would be looking at ways to roll it out 'in a proper framework' Facial recognition tech should be used more widely to tackle shoplifting and anti-social behaviour, the Home Secretary says. Yvette Cooper has urged firms to think about tracking prolific shoplifters using a national database. Hundreds of big-name stores, including Boots, Morrisons, M&S and Greggs, capture criminals' images and details, including their vehicle registrations, on a database named Auror. The information can be shared with other retailers and police, and used to ban and prosecute thieves. It is estimated that 10% of shoplifters carry out 74% of UK thefts. Ms Cooper said: "We do want more retailers working together on schemes like this so that we can have partnerships tackling that crime." She also said the Home Office is investigating ways to get more facial recognition cameras onto high streets. And the Home Secretary continued: "Too often people have been working separately in silos, and this sort of crime has been treated as low level. "It's not. It has a huge impact on local economies and on that sense of safety at the heart of communities." At the moment experts believe that just five per cent of shop thefts are reported to police. Ben McDonald of Morrisons said the Auror software, used by 98% of retailers in New Zealand where it was developed, was a "game-changer". The database captures images and details about offenders, including vehicle registrations, and allows them to be shared directly between stores and police. This wealth of information can be used to prosecute thieves and ban them from stores after retail crime hit a record level last year. It is estimated that a prolific 10% of shoplifters are responsible for 74% of thefts in the UK - making identifying them especially important. The company claims that streamlining investigations meant forces in New Zealand have been able to hire more than 450 officers in the past seven years. Earlier this year Devon and Cornwall became the first force to partner with the software firm. Superintendent Emma Butler-Jones said the network had "revolutionised" the way retail crime is tackled in the area. Asked whether forces across England and Wales should follow the lead of Croydon in South London and install permanent facial recognition cameras, Ms Cooper this kit is "really important for policing". She said: "There's more scope for using facial recognition more widely, and we're going to set out more ways in which that can be done in a proper framework. We want more retailers working together on schemes like this." Ms Cooper said shoplifting "has a huge impact on local economies and communities". She has also told police chiefs she wants patrols ramped up in 500 English and Welsh town and city centre trouble spots. She challenged police commissioners to draw up plans to tackle rising anti-social behaviour over the summer holidays. The blitz will see more targeted work to ban frequent offenders from hotspots. Ms Cooper has vowed that by August, every neighbourhood will have a named officer who residents will know to contact, and problem areas must be patrolled. Labour has vowed to recruit an additional 13,000 neighbourhood officers by 2029. Ms Cooper said: 'It's time to turn this round, that's why I have called on police forces and councils alike to work together to deliver a summer blitz on town centre crime to send a clear message to those people who bring misery to our towns that their crimes will no longer go unpunished. 'The fact that 500 towns have signed up shows the strength of feeling on this issue."
Times
03-07-2025
- Business
- Times
Home secretary urges stores to use new crime-reporting platform
The images and details of prolific shoplifters are being collected and shared by major retailers on the first national database to tackle the crime. Marks & Spencer, Boots, Morrisons, Greggs, BP and Travis Perkins are among the retailers using a new crime intelligence reporting platform created by a New Zealand software company. Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, urged more retailers to use the software as she launched a three-month policing blitz that will target antisocial behaviour in 500 town centres across England and Wales. She called on police forces to use live facial recognition to enforce banning orders on individuals responsible for the worst antisocial behaviour. The Metropolitan Police recently installed permanent live facial recognition cameras to catch wanted criminals in Croydon, south London. Shared intelligence collected by the Auror platform has revealed that 10 per cent of offenders reported by UK retailers account for 72 per cent of all shoplifting offences. Paul Fagg, who served as a police officer before leading Auror's law enforcement partnerships in the UK, said the platform acted as a 'conduit between retailer and policing' by sharing information, CCTV and other evidence between retailers, alerting them to prolific offenders and helping to enforce banning orders on the worst of them. In addition to acting as a preventative tool, Fagg said, the shared intelligence helped to close the gap between the vast number of shoplifting offences recorded by retailers and the minority that are investigated by police. Yvette Cooper visited Derby County FC's Pride Park stadium to launch the Safer Streets summer initiative PHIL BARNETT/PA The latest survey by the British Retail Consortium reported that 20 million shoplifting offences were committed in the past year. While there has been a 20 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of offences recorded by the police to 516,971, these make up only 2.5 per cent of all thefts. Once there is enough evidence that an individual is a prolific shoplifter, the firm then passes the information to the relevant police force to investigate. This overcomes the barrier retailers faced before when reporting thefts to the police. Fagg said retailers were not reporting most thefts to the police because they faced 'pushback' from forces that saw it as a burden to triage the crime. Auror carries out the triaging process by sending on details of only the most prolific offenders and individuals with sufficient evidence to police, maximising the prospect of success. It saves police time by taking away the need for officers to visit stores to collect evidence or interview witnesses because the evidence is collected on the platform. • Police 'forced to deprioritise phone thefts and shoplifting' Superintendent Emma Butler-Jones, of Devon and Cornwall police, said the platform had 'revolutionised how we tackle business crime' in their area. The force's charge rate for shoplifting offences reported through the platform were 7 per cent higher than crimes reported through more traditional means. Crime reports are provided to police officers an average of 8.5 times quicker, which means the force can accelerate their investigations. Auror is now used by 98 per cent of retailers in New Zealand, where the efficiency savings made by the platform freed up enough money to recruit an additional 451 police officers. The crime reporting platform is also used by 75 per cent of retailers in Australia. Auror does not use live facial recognition on its platform. Instead, it uses retrospective facial recognition to match multiple CCTV images of the same individual reported on the platform. Cooper said: 'We do want more retailers, more organisations [involved in] schemes like this, so that we can have that partnership, so that you're tackling the crime but also getting the neighborhood policing reassurance in local communities,' Cooper said. 'I think this hasn't happened for too long. Too often people have been working separately, in silos, and this sort of crime has been treated as low level. It's not. It has a huge impact on local economies and on that sense of safety at the heart of communities.' Backing police forces to make greater use of live facial recognition software, which has so far only been used by the Met and South Wales police, Cooper said: 'Facial recognition is a really important tool for policing to be able to use, to identify criminals, looking at the CCTV. We do think there is more scope for using facial recognition more widely and we're going to set out more ways in which that can be done as part of a proper framework.' Cooper was speaking on a visit to Pride Park, the home of Derby County FC, to launch her 'Safer Streets Summer Initiative', a blitz that will run in 500 city and town centres over the next three months with increased police patrols and additional enforcement to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour. Each town centre that will benefit from the increased patrols has submitted a bespoke action plan to the Home Office on how they plan to tackle the specific antisocial behaviour problems in their area. Many are working in partnership with their local football club to divert youngsters away from antisocial behaviour. Bristol City has partnered with Morrisons to provide free 'turn up and play' sessions for youngsters who may be 'intimidating' elderly customers at supermarkets in the city through antisocial behaviour such as hanging out in groups outside the stores. Ben McDonald, head of the corporate protection team at Morrisons, said antisocial behaviour was a 'gateway offence' to more serious crime including shoplifting. He said: 'If you can take youths away from that type of offending into something else and bridge that gap where they've got employment, got a job and got responsibilities, you take them out of crime.'
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Currys unveils major safety spend to protect staff, kerb retail crime
Currys, a British omnichannel technology retailer, has unveiled its most significant annual investment in store safety measures to date reaffirming its focus on staff security. The move is aimed at protecting employees and discouraging retail theft. The announcement coincides with the company's observance of 'Safety Week' for its store personnel throughout the UK. It follows a report from British Retail Consortium which revealed reveal that incidents of violence and abuse against retail staff surged to more than 2,000 per day in fiscal year 2023-24, compared to 1,300 daily occurrences the previous year. The retailer is introducing an array of new technologies and safety protocols as part of this extensive investment in safety. Upgrades include enhanced Public Display Monitors in stores deemed high-risk, experimentation with novel product security measures, and a commitment to better intelligence gathering and analysis. Additionally, there will be a heightened focus on security personnel and surveillance systems. Currys is piloting the use of staff headsets in select locations, with a full rollout expected by the end of May this year. These devices enable staff to communicate more effectively on the sales floor, enhancing their sense of security, particularly when dealing with shoplifters. Moreover, this technology also improves customer service by allowing shoppers to summon assistance through a button at the entrance that alerts staff via their headsets, notes the company. Currys has also partnered with Auror for the implementation of a crime reporting software platform that streamlines crime reporting and increases its precision. The software facilitates secure information sharing about crimes and suspects among stores. By correlating data on offenses nationwide, it not only equips store employees with knowledge of current threats but also supports law enforcement efforts to make shopping environments safer. Currently undergoing trials in two regions, there are plans to expand this platform across all stores early next month. To intensify product security across its outlets, the retailer will implement a data-driven strategy to balance theft risks against customer engagement. One notable area of investment is the enhancement of laptop display stand security across all Currys stores. The introduction of new laptop clamps aims to deter theft without detracting from the customer experience. Preliminary tests have shown promising results in decreasing aggressive thefts, with a broader deployment scheduled for next week, said the company. Currys COO Lindsay Haselhurst said: 'UK retail crime statistics make for difficult reading, as incidents of shoplifting and aggression against retail workers continue to climb. These are not victimless crimes; the worst cases leave colleagues and customers injured and traumatised. 'That's why I'm really pleased to roll out a number of new programmes to increase colleague and product security in our stores, and welcome the new Crime and Policing Bill legislation. However, we know there is much more to be done and this must be a collaborative effort with all involved, including local police forces and government.' Recently, supermarket chain Asda has initiated a trial of live facial recognition technology across five of its stores in Greater Manchester, England, UK. "Currys unveils major safety spend to protect staff, kerb retail crime" was originally created and published by Retail Insight Network, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Sign in to access your portfolio
