China’s 315 Gala, an annual TV programme aired on national broadcaster CCTV on March 15 each year to mark World Consumer Rights Day, called out Max Mara alongside other brands.

The Italian brand’s alleged misdeed was utilising facial recognition cameras in store to collect consumer data without consent, a violation of Chinese regulations that require consent for facial recognition data collection.

Max Mara’s store in Shanghai’s famed luxury mall, Plaza 66, was accused by state-owned broadcaster CCTV of using facial recognition cameras to track consumer behaviour, but that camera has since been removed.

An official statement from the brand said the in-store camera in question was used only for collecting statistics about store foot fall, and all images taken in the store were automatically deleted each day.