Albert Heijn Starts Bodycam Trial After Thousands of Aggression Reports
The Dutch supermarket chain will equip security guards with bodycams in four stores in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, after years of growing aggression against staff. Privacy regulators have previously warned that bodycams in shops are a last resort.
Supermarket chain Albert Heijn is launching a trial in which external security guards will wear bodycams in four of its stores, in response to what the company says are thousands of reports of aggression against staff every year. The trial starts in stores in the centres of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, and could be expanded if it proves effective. The story was first reported by Dutch newspaper AD.
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Why bodycams, why now
According to Albert Heijn, the supermarket receives thousands of reports of aggression each year, ranging from verbal abuse and intimidation to physical violence against staff. "We find that very worrying," Sonja Boelhouwer, director of stores and logistics at Albert Heijn, told AD.
While most customers behave normally, the chain says the volume and severity of incidents has reached a point where additional measures are needed. The trial is part of a broader package of measures aimed at protecting employees, alongside the chain's existing in-store cameras and security staff.
How the trial works
The bodycams will only be worn by external security guards, not by regular Albert Heijn employees. The trial begins in four stores in central Amsterdam and Rotterdam. If it proves effective, the chain plans to expand the use of bodycams to more locations, but only in stores where security guards already work.
The cameras do not record continuously. They are designed to be activated only when a tense or threatening situation arises. Footage is automatically deleted after 14 days, unless it is needed for a police investigation. Recordings can only be viewed by the local store manager and a small group of people at Albert Heijn's head office.
A different approach from competitor Dirk
Albert Heijn is not the first Dutch supermarket to introduce bodycams. In 2024, discount chain Dirk became the first supermarket in the country to equip its own staff with bodycams in around 40 stores. In Dirk's case, employees themselves wear the cameras and decide when to switch them on; the bodycams have a small screen that lets the person being filmed see themselves, which the chain says helps de-escalate situations.
Albert Heijn has chosen a different model, leaving the cameras in the hands of trained external security guards rather than supermarket staff. The reasoning is that professional guards are already trained to handle aggression, while regular employees are not.
Privacy concerns
The Dutch data protection authority, the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP), has raised concerns about the use of bodycams in supermarkets in the past. When Dirk introduced its bodycams in 2024, the AP said it found it "concerning" that a supermarket felt the measure was necessary at all, and warned that bodycams are normally seen only on police officers and special enforcement officials.
Camera surveillance, the regulator said, is "very invasive," and bodycams are even more so, because they film people up close and directly in the face. According to the AP, businesses must therefore be "very restrained" in deploying them. Bodycams should only be used as a last resort, when other measures have not worked, and as part of a broader package of safety steps. The regulator has also warned that bodycams should not become a cheap substitute for trained security personnel.
The AP confirmed at the time that it would ask supermarkets using bodycams for an explanation of why the cameras are necessary, and what other measures had been tried first. The watchdog has expressed similar reservations about the new Albert Heijn trial.
Part of a broader trend
The bodycams in Albert Heijn fit into a wider Dutch trend of expanding camera surveillance in environments where workers face aggression. Dutch railway company NS has begun deploying bodycams for its conductors, after years of incidents on trains and platforms. Police and special enforcement officials, known as boa's, have used them for years.
For Albert Heijn, the goal is straightforward: to protect staff and de-escalate threatening situations before they tip over into violence. Whether bodycams achieve that, and whether the privacy concerns can be resolved, will depend on how the trial unfolds in the coming months.
