Rite Aid Is Banned , From Using Facial Recognition Tech , After Wrongly Accusing Customers of Shoplifting.<br />'The Guardian' reports that the Federal Trade <br />Commission has banned Rite Aid from using facial recognition technology for the next five years.<br />According to a new settlement, the pharmacy chain <br />used facial recognition systems to identify <br />shoppers deemed "likely to engage" in shoplifting. .<br />According to a new settlement, the pharmacy chain <br />used facial recognition systems to identify <br />shoppers deemed "likely to engage" in shoplifting. .<br />This was also done without customers' consent. .<br />The settlement shows that the system misidentified particularly Black, <br />Latino and Asian people, as well as women. .<br />The settlement shows that the system misidentified particularly Black, <br />Latino and Asian people, as well as women. .<br />Rite Aid employees would then <br />get alerts about the people it misidentified, , and those people would be increasingly surveilled, <br />banned from the store or accused of crimes.<br />The FTC accused Rite Aid of using its facial <br />recognition technology in hundreds of stores <br />between October of 2012 and July of 2020.<br />Cities that the facial recognition system was <br />used in include New York City, Los Angeles, <br />San Francisco, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Detroit.<br />Cities that the facial recognition system was <br />used in include New York City, Los Angeles, <br />San Francisco, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Detroit.<br />Civil liberty and digital rights group the Electronic <br />Privacy Information Center (Epic) accused Rite Aid <br />of failing to take even the most basic precautions.<br />Civil liberty and digital rights group the Electronic <br />Privacy Information Center (Epic) accused Rite Aid <br />of failing to take even the most basic precautions.<br />The result was sadly predictable: <br />thousands of misidentifications <br />that disproportionately affected <br />Black, Asian and Latino customers, <br />some of which led to humiliating <br />searches and store ejections, John Davisson, Epic’s director of litigation, via 'The Guardian'.<br />According to Rite Aid, the AI involved in the allegations <br />was part of a pilot program in a limited number of <br />stores and was taken out of use three years ago
