Rite Aid is banned for five years from using artificial intelligence (AI) facial recognition to try to curb shoplifting, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said Tuesday. In a press release, the age…
Rite Aid is banned for five years from using artificial intelligence (AI) facial recognition to try to curb shoplifting, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said Tuesday. In a press release, the age…
This is one of those things where I don’t really agree with the law on.
Shoplifters come back again and again and many try to screw with checkout people with coupon scams or simply know where in the store to go to hide the things they want to steal.
Verkada (a company that supplies cameras and the software to use them) has this kind of functionality built-in. All it does is let you setup alerts for people who are persons of interest. It’s not perfect but anyone paying attention can tell that the person on camera being alerted is the same as the POI or not. It doesn’t eliminate the human interactions needed to actually prevent shoplifting, but it does let you know who to focus on when they come in.
Normal store employees don’t get access to things like camera systems. Security / loss prevention employees are typically the ones with access and who would see a notification and then watch for someone to put things in a purse or pocket and try to walk out of the store.
So all they’re saying is “do not scrutinize this known thief unless you yourself remember them” which is pretty absurd. If someone doesn’t steal there isn’t a problem, and if there is the footage will back up the innocence (or guilt!) I don’t even know how this became a case.
I think the problem is that the tech used here doesn’t work. This isn’t some high end A.I. company spending a fortune on advanced facial recognition. It’s just a shitty camera in a drug store that probably doesn’t get cleaned and falsely dings every other dark-skinned face.
I’d believe some facial recognition software works effectively. TSA’s Global Entry kiosks and things like that where it’s a controlled environment with good lighting and the vendor/customer are willing to spend money. I do not believe fucking Rite Aid is going with a high end product to catch whoever keeps stealing Starburst.
I don’t know that I’d point to the security theater of TSA as an example of “doing it right”. But agreed, they have a better shot than Rite Aid.
I think the bigger problem is shoplifting is not a symptom of poor security, but rather poor society.
Seems like the y’re taking issue not with the technology, but Rite-Aid’s implementation of it, particularly that they didn’t do any of the required dilligence to prove that the tech wouldn’t be harmful, or violate privacy, or would even be accurate.
Ehh, fuck Verkada in the neck with a rusty screwdriver. Their cold-calling and borderline-harassing sales tactics earned them a permaban in my org’s email filtering and phone system.