Cold Storage fires temperature screening staff who photographed female shoppers

A temperature screening staff at Cold Storage has been dismissed for distributing photos of female shoppers taken during work.

The incident was brought to light when screenshots of a WhatsApp chatroom were uploaded onto a forum thread on HardwareZone yesterday (April 29).

The screenshots showed several photos taken by the man within the supermarket and at the temperature station during the circuit breaker.

He also asked the other members of the chat group if they wanted the contact number for one of the women in the photos, before retracting his offer and saying: "Dun want, I save for myself [sic]."

In response to media enquiries, a Dairy Farm spokesperson confirmed that the staff was a temporary worker stationed at Cold Storage's Rail Mall outlet.

He was hired through an employment agency as additional manpower for temperature screenings and collecting details for contact tracing.

"We thank the media and members of the public for quickly bringing this up to our attention for our address," the spokesperson said. "Since this has come to our attention, we have taken swift action and removed the person responsible immediately."

"We take the privacy and safety of our customers very seriously and do not tolerate this kind of behaviour."

A police report has been made, 8World reported.

While taking photos of others is not illegal, lawyers said that if the temporary staff had shared the women's personal details, it could be considered harassment.

He could have also violated the Personal Data Protection Act by collecting information meant to be used for contact tracing.

rainercheung@asiaone.com