The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has banned US drugstore chain Rite Aid from using facial recognition technology for five years, following allegations that the company’s surveillance system was used incorrectly to identify potential shoplifters, particularly of certain racial groups and genders. The settlement with the FTC states that Rite Aid did not take adequate measures to prevent harm to its customers or implement reasonable procedures. The FTC complaint alleged that Rite Aid’s technology led to thousands of incorrect matches, including an incident in which employees stopped and searched an 11-year-old girl. Rite Aid used facial recognition technology in hundreds of stores, without informing customers, in several US cities. The technology would track customers as they entered and moved through the store, comparing live images to a database. Alerts were then sent to employees if a match was found, who would follow, order people to leave, or call the police. The technology was found to use low-quality images, leading to a higher rate of misidentification for people of color. Rite Aid has denied the allegations and stated that any settlement will have to be approved in bankruptcy court, as the company is currently going through the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process. Facial recognition technology has faced significant criticism due to its potential for bias and misidentification of people of color.
