What is Auror?

Auror was founded in New Zealand in 2012 after its founders saw a growing retail crime problem, with no effective or secure technology being used to address it. Retailers are now empowered with the tools to better understand their own information and connect with police to identify prolific and repeat offenders causing the most harm in the community.

Auror (pronounced 'or-ra') is the shortening of the Latin word 'Aurora' which translates to dawn or sunrise. Its meaning underpins what we strive to do, which is to help shed light on the scale of retail crime through information and collaboration.

Retailers enter information about potential crime and anti-social behavior into Auror after the event has occurred.

This is a manual process where a retailer fills in an online form and enters relevant supporting material like a witness statement, images or CCTV footage.

The structured online form is designed to help retailers enter information that is relevant, accurate, and helpful to potential investigations. Free-text fields are restricted to prohibit the capturing of sensitive information such as ethnicity, religious or political affiliation, or sexual orientation.

Retailers may choose to label events as sensitive to apply access restrictions. For example, if the event relates to a minor.

No. Auror does not own or operate cameras or hardware. Simply, retailers use CCTV footage or images taken with their own cameras and upload it to Auror.

Through the CTD feature, existing static images previously entered into Auror by retailers to record potential crime events can be used to suggest matches between events to identify individuals who may have repeatedly offended The CTD feature is also able to suggest matches using other text-based event data entered into Auror.

Retailers can opt to integrate their LPR systems with Auror’s software. It can provide retailers alerts on vehicles known to be associated with previous high-harm and prolific offending in their stores when they enter their private parking lots. This gives them time to respond appropriately and helps make staff, customers, and property safer through early intervention.

Retailers can also use this functionality to fulfill requests for information made by police about vehicles involved in police investigations.

Retailers can opt in to a module called Connect the Dots (CTD). Image matching is an opt-in component of CTD and is not enabled by default.

Through the CTD feature, existing static images previously entered into Auror by retailers to record potential crime events can be used to suggest matches between events to identify individuals who may have repeatedly offended. The CTD feature is also able to suggest matches using other text-based event data entered into Auror.

As with all elements in Auror that use similar matching technology, human verification is required to accept or reject suggestions. This is not the same as live facial recognition because all suggested matches are only surfaced after event data has been manually entered in Auror.

To address a continued rise in violent crime in retail environments globally, Auror now offers retailers an optional module called Subject Recognition which supports their responsible use of live FRT. While Auror does not build or own FRT, it safely applies the secure end-to-end workflows, intelligence, strict safeguards and responsible controls to ensure the tech is used for identification and crime prevention and safety purposes only.

For more information, visit the Subject Recognition page.

Retailers generally set their own retention periods. Information may sometimes be anonymized and aggregated for statistical or reporting purposes so it is no longer personal information.

Yes. We take privacy and information security very seriously and we take steps to keep information secure. Auror is SOC2 Type II compliant. All information is end-to-end encrypted and stored in secure data centers, hosted in local regions.

Retailers and law enforcement have layered access control settings to ensure access reflects the responsibilities users have within their organizations. At the enterprise level, access to the software is managed by single-sign-on (SSO) accounts and multi-factor authentication (MFA).

Retailers determine what information they enter into the software. Auror provides them with the ability to set access controls internally, and also to self-remediate or delete any information they enter. We also provide audit information where needed so retailers can see who has used, entered, accessed or downloaded information.

Information is processed under strict safeguards and all users must comply with their own internal operating policies and our terms of use, which requires them to not misuse or share information outside the software with unauthorized users. Retailers also need to comply with all local laws.

When users violate our strict terms of use, we work with the relevant organizations to suspend or terminate user access.

Yes. Auror’s software is auditable and there are layered access controls in place for customers to ensure user groups with an organization have access to the right level of information for their role. We provide audit information so retailers can see who has used, entered, accessed or downloaded information. Access to the software is generally managed by single-sign-on (SSO) accounts with multi-factor authentication (MFA).

Yes, under privacy regulations in most jurisdictions, you can request your personal information from the entity that collected the information. Individuals can request their personal information from the retailer for them to make a determination about how to handle your request. It's important to note that Auror is a Software as a Service (SaaS) provider to retailers and therefore, retailers determine what information they enter and remain in control of their own data. Auror acts as their agent under their instruction, so we cannot release information directly. We provide retailers with the ability to audit, search, and download information.

Once you make a request, the retailer may require more information, such as your full name, date of birth and the time and location of the event. If necessary, you may contact privacy@auror.co for more information about this process.