Woolworths customer raises privacy concerns after spotting camera while undressed in fitting room

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Opens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowEnter fullscreen mode displaying this image.ExpandPrivacy concerns after customer spots camera near Woolworths fitting room A Cape Town woman has raised concerns about customer privacy and personal safety after spotting what she believed was a surveillance camera inside a fitting room at Woolworths in Tyger Valley.

The customer, who asked to be identified only as Busi, said the incident happened at about 6.20pm when she visited the store in the northern suburbs to look for an outfit for an upcoming event.

After trying on several items, she returned to the fitting room with more clothes. During the second round of fittings, she said she looked up and noticed what appeared to be a camera while she was undressed.

“I immediately got dressed and questioned the female staff member who had been assisting me. She acknowledged the camera but claimed that it was facing a different direction and was not recording me,” Busi said.

She said she raised the matter with another staff member, who photographed the camera and undertook to investigate.

Woolworths customer raises privacy concerns after spotting camera while undressed in fitting room. However, Busi said the situation became more concerning when the store manager became involved and repeatedly denied that there was a camera inside the fitting room.

“She emphatically stated that there would ‘NEVER’ be a camera there. She maintained this position despite my having photographed the camera and staff members having seen it,” she said.

Busi said she eventually contacted the police, who arrived at the store shortly after 8pm.

She was concerned that surveillance footage might have captured images of her while she was undressed.

“When the police arrived, I took them to the fitting room, where they also saw the camera. Following this, the store manager acknowledged its existence, contradicting her earlier statements,” she said.

Busi said the explanations she received about the CCTV footage raised further questions.

She was initially told there was no footage of her. Subsequently, she was shown footage that appeared to show her back as she entered the fitting room.

However, she said the camera angle did not appear to correspond with the position of the camera she had photographed.

“Staff maintained that the footage was correct, but I was not provided with a clear explanation of this discrepancy,” she said.

Busi acknowledged that she could not independently establish whether the camera had captured images of her while she was undressed.

“I do not wish to make allegations that have not been verified. However, the presence of the camera, the contradictory explanations from store staff and the lack of a satisfactory account of the footage have left me deeply concerned about what may have happened,” she said.

She said she attempted to obtain contact details for senior management, but the store manager refused to provide them, citing the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia).

Busi said she left the store at about 9.15pm without what she considered a satisfactory explanation or an apology, and without confidence that her concerns had been properly addressed.

The incident has left her seeking answers about why the camera was positioned inside the fitting room, whether it was operational, why the manager initially denied its existence and whether any images of her inside the fitting room had been captured.

“My concern extends beyond my personal experience. Customers should be able to try on clothing without fearing that their privacy may be compromised. If a camera is installed in or near a fitting room, there should be clear accountability regarding its purpose, positioning, operation and the handling of any recordings,” she said.

Section 14 of the constitution protects the right to privacy, while the Protection of Personal Information Act regulates the processing of personal information, including images of identifiable individuals. The circumstances of any alleged surveillance, including the camera’s position and what it could capture, would be important in determining whether privacy rights had been infringed.

Woolworths spokesperson Rachel Alberts said the retailer had been in close contact with Busi to resolve the matter.

“We can confirm there were no cameras in the fitting room. Our team did a thorough investigation and found that no cameras in our Tyger Valley store, or certainly any Woolworths store, record the inside of fitting rooms.

“The misunderstanding came about because one fitting room is adjacent to a stock room, and the stock room is covered by CCTV. The customer was worried that the camera in question may have a view of the fitting room, but this has since been cleared up, and we have provided proof and guarantee that the camera is fixed and only faces the stock room,” Alberts said.

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