The Federal Trade Commission announced on Tuesday that it will prohibit the Rite Aid chain from using facial recognition technology for surveillance purposes for five years after Rite Aid failed to “prevent harm to customers” and implement “reasonable procedures” related to its facial recognition program used to detect theft.
Key Facts
In Tuesday’s announcement, Samuel Levin, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, stated that “Rite Aid’s reckless use of facial surveillance systems” caused harm to its customers and subjected them to humiliation after misidentifying customers, most of whom were women and people of color, as shoplifters.
The Complaint and Consequences
The FTC said that Rite Aid began using AI-based facial recognition technology to identify customers who had shoplifted or displayed “suspicious behavior,” but the complaint alleged that Rite Aid did not take reasonable steps to prevent harm to customers who were misidentified and falsely accused of theft.
In some cases, Rite Aid employees followed incorrectly matched individuals in stores, forced them to leave before completing purchases, contacted police, and publicly accused them of theft, according to the FTC’s complaint.
Major Criticism
Although Rite Aid stated in a Tuesday statement that it was “pleased to reach an agreement with the FTC and put this matter behind us,” the company defended itself and said that “the safety of our employees and customers is of utmost importance.” The statement read, “We fundamentally disagree with the facial recognition allegations made against us in the agency’s complaint,” adding, “Rite Aid stopped using the technology in a small number of stores more than three years ago, before the FTC began its investigations into the company’s use of the technology.”
Big Numbers
Thousands of cases. This is the number of false positive matches generated by Rite Aid’s system from 2012 to 2020 using low-quality images, some taken from Rite Aid’s security cameras, employee phones, or news sources, according to the FTC. The technology incorrectly matched individuals and customers who were warned “based on activity thousands of miles away” and sometimes “the same person was warned in multiple different stores” across the country.
Background
Rite Aid allowed the creation of a “watchlist database” of individuals it claimed had engaged in or attempted to engage in criminal activities in its stores, according to the FTC. The entries in the database included individuals’ names, images, birth years, and descriptions of what they did to end up on the list, though the photos were often of low quality and uploaded by employees, leading to mismatches with other customers. The FTC claimed that Rite Aid had its store security staff obtain “as many records as possible.” Rite Aid, based in Pennsylvania, filed for bankruptcy in October after facing difficulties competing with rivals and pharmacies and dealing with a number of lawsuits related to its alleged role in exacerbating the opioid crisis in America.
Further Reading
You can find more information on the topic here: FTC Bans Rite Aid From Using AI Facial Recognition Technology In Settlement
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