Current:Home > NewsRite Aid used AI facial recognition tech. Customers said it led to racial profiling. -Capitatum
Rite Aid used AI facial recognition tech. Customers said it led to racial profiling.
View
Date:2025-04-17 10:31:51
The Federal Trade Commission has banned Rite Aid from using AI facial recognition technology, accusing the pharmacy chain of recklessly deploying technology that subjected customers – especially people of color and women – to unwarranted searches.
The decision comes after Rite Aid deployed AI-based facial recognition to identify customers deemed likely to engage in criminal behavior like shoplifting. The FTC says the technology often based its alerts on low-quality images, such as those from security cameras, phone cameras and news stories, resulting in "thousands of false-positive matches" and customers being searched or kicked out of stores for crimes they did not commit.
"Rite Aid failed to take reasonable measures to prevent harm to consumers from its use of facial recognition technology," the complaint alleges.
Two of the cases outlined in the complaint include:
- An employee searching an 11-year-old girl after a false match. The girl’s mother said she missed work because her daughter was "so distraught by the incident."
- Employees calling the police on a Black woman after a false alert. The person in the image that triggered the alert was described as “a white lady with blonde hair.”
“It has been clear for years that facial recognition systems can perform less effectively for people with darker skin and women,” FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya said in a statement. “In spite of this, we allege that Rite Aid was more likely to deploy face surveillance in stores located in plurality-non-White areas than in other areas.”
The FTC said facial recognition was in use between 2012 and 2020 in hundreds of stores, and customers were not informed that the technology was in use.
“Rite Aid's reckless use of facial surveillance systems left its customers facing humiliation and other harms, and its order violations put consumers’ sensitive information at risk," Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a Tuesday statement. “Today’s groundbreaking order makes clear that the Commission will be vigilant in protecting the public from unfair biometric surveillance and unfair data security practices.”
A statement from Rite Aid said the company is pleased to reach an agreement with the FTC, but it disagrees with the facial recognition allegations in the complaint.
"The allegations relate to a facial recognition technology pilot program the Company deployed in a limited number of stores," the statement reads. "Rite Aid stopped using the technology in this small group of stores more than three years ago, before the FTC’s investigation regarding the Company’s use of the technology began."
The ban is to last five years. If Rite Aid does decide to implement similar technology in the future, the order requires it to implement comprehensive safeguards and a “robust information security program” overseen by top executives. The FTC also told Rite Aid to delete any images collected for the facial recognition system and said the company must tell customers when their biometric information is enrolled in a database for surveillance systems.
The settlement comes as Rite Aid works its way through bankruptcy proceedings. The FTC’s order is set to go into effect once the bankruptcy and federal district court give approval.
veryGood! (653)
Related
- Family of explorer who died in the Titan sub implosion seeks $50M-plus in wrongful death lawsuit
- Nearly 5,000 autoworkers have been laid off since UAW strike began
- A train has derailed in India killing at least 1 passenger and injuring 30 others
- Who is Mary Lou Retton? Everything to know about the American gymnastics icon
- Former Milwaukee hotel workers charged with murder after video shows them holding down Black man
- Can Miami overcome Mario Cristobal's blunder? Picks for college football Week 7 | Podcast
- Finland police investigate undersea gas pipeline leak as possible sabotage
- Russian authorities seek to fine a human rights advocate for criticizing the war in Ukraine
- Charges: D'Vontaye Mitchell died after being held down for about 9 minutes
- Donald Trump will speak in Florida next to Matt Gaetz, who set House speaker’s ouster in motion
Ranking
- Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
- Belgium’s prime minister says his country supports a ban on Russian diamonds as part of sanctions
- Jada Pinkett Smith says she and Will Smith were separated for 6 years before Oscars slap
- Australian-Chinese journalist detained for 3 years in China returns to Australia
- Messi injury update: Ankle 'better every day' but Inter Miami star yet to play Leagues Cup
- Trick-or-treat: Snag yourself a pair of chocolate bar-themed Crocs just in time for Halloween
- Female frogs fake their own death to avoid unwanted attention from males: Study
- NASA launching Psyche mission to explore metallic asteroid: How to watch the cosmic quest
Recommendation
A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
Walmart heir wants museums to attract more people and donates $40 million to help
Keith Urban shares the secret to a great song ahead of Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Ceremony
Soccer Stars Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger Break Up After Almost 4 Years of Marriage
Shilo Sanders' bankruptcy case reaches 'impasse' over NIL information for CU star
Ben & Jerry's is switching to oat-based recipe for non-dairy products starting in 2024
How Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith Responded to Breakup Rumors Years Before Separation
Malaysia’s wildlife department defends its use of puppies as live bait to trap black panthers