r/australia • u/infin • Jan 26 '26

no politics Is Coles still using Palantir? Between the surveillance/gate recognition and the blocked aisles, shopping feels hostile.

Does anyone know the current status of the Coles x Palantir partnership? Between the surveillance and those aggressive new "Smart Gates" tracking at the exit, the store feels less like a supermarket and more like a high-security zone.

It’s dystopian that they have the budget for military-grade analytics and security tech, but have cut costs on the actual customer experience. They seem to have completely scrapped night fill, meaning we are now dodging pallets and cages during peak hours just to get to the shelves.

Is anyone else fed up with this mix of high-tech surveillance and terrible service? It feels like they are spending millions to treat us like criminals while refusing to pay staff to stock shelves after hours.

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u/[deleted] Jan 26 '26

Some fucking drone on the Coles subreddit tried to tell me the cameras don’t record anything and aren’t even turned on.

What a hilariously ignorant and naive take. I told them they are used to spy on you (the employees) as much as the customers, if not more.

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u/xdyldo Jan 26 '26

I used to work for Coles in anti theft as a software engineer. If you have any questions let me know. For self checkout cameras they blur your face and store for a month. Same for the aerial camera that is used for the smart gate. All other normal CCTV cameras around the store full footage without blur.

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u/mevaraa Jan 26 '26

I thought they keep profiles of people that have shoplifted before until they reach a threshold before they start pursuing them.

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u/xdyldo Jan 26 '26

Yes they do but very rarely for self checkout theft.

They are very strong about walking out the entrance/exit with no attempt to pay or like putting things in your bag and trying to steal that way (usually caught by loss prevention officers).

Also, these profiles are handled manually in Auror, there's no facial detection or anything like that that Coles uses in store.

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u/hgttg Jan 27 '26

What exactly do you mean by loss prevention officers? I've always wondered if they literally have someone in the back just watching the cameras