The German grocery chain Aldi Süd is planning to install a camera system to control access to its stores, which should only have a limited number of customers at any one time. It’s described the new system as “innovative” but it’s essentially no different from traffic cameras used at busy intersections. For that matter, it will even use traffic lights to let customers waiting in line outside when another person can enter the store. The same system, which is supposed to replace security people now employed to do the same job badly, is also supposed to monitor whether paying customers are standing far enough apart. Similar systems are being tested for use by other retailers across Germany. Even Amazon has gotten into the digital surveillance game and is using cameras in its German logistics centers to detect when its workers are getting too close to each other. It’s not clear whether the system will be turned off once the coronavirus crisis recedes.
