Store mannequins 'spy on customers' with hidden cameras Emma Carr, deputy director of campaign group Big Brother Watch, told the Daily Mail newspaper: "The use of covert surveillance technology by shops, in order to provide a personalised service, seems totally disproportionate. The fact that the cameras are hidden suggests that shops are fully aware that many customers would object to this kind of monitoring. Keeping cameras hidden in a mannequin is nothing short of creepy. On its website, Almax boasts: "From now on the mannequins will not only display your collections and encourage the consumer to enter the store. This product will do much more. It would make it possible to 'observe' who is attracted by your windows and reveal important details about your customers: age range; gender; race; number of people and time spent. Almax Chief Executive Max Cantanese did not disclose which retailers used the dummies, or even whether they are in use in the UK. Five companies worldwide are known to have purchased the mannequins and they are in use in the United States and three European countries. According to the Daily Mailm, one shop placed Chinese-speaking staff by a particular door after it found a third of visitors using it after 4pm were Asian.