Rite Aid Banned from Facial Recognition Use After FTC Accusations

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) banned Rite Aid from using facial recognition in stores for five years. The reason? The tech wrongly tagged customers as shoplifters, especially women and people of color. Rite Aid didn’t take enough steps to protect people’s privacy or prevent mistakes.

Rite Aid used this tech from 2012 to 2020 to spot possible shoplifters. But it caused problems. The tech made errors, accusing innocent customers and treating them unfairly. It especially affected people of color.

The company didn’t check if the tech worked well before using it, and it didn’t stop using low-quality images, which made mistakes more likely. Plus, Rite Aid didn’t train staff well on how to use this tech.

On top of that, they didn’t properly protect people’s info. The FTC made rules for Rite Aid to follow to make sure this doesn’t happen again. They also need to delete certain data and tell customers if their info was used.

Rite Aid disagreed with the FTC’s claims about their facial recognition. They said they stopped using it in a few stores over three years ago. They agreed to settle the matter with the FTC but insisted they care about customer privacy and safety.

Rite Aid mentioned they’re committed to serving communities safely. As part of their deal with the FTC, they’ll improve their info security. They’re also focusing on getting financially stronger while still helping their customers with healthcare products and services.

However, this settlement needs approval from the courts overseeing Rite Aid’s bankruptcy and the one where the FTC filed its complaint.

In short, Rite Aid and the FTC had a disagreement about facial recognition tech, and Rite Aid agreed to make changes, but they’re waiting for court approval.

Rite Aid faced serious legal issues for its use of facial recognition technology, as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accused it of recklessly deploying this technology. The charges included failure to protect consumers, misuse of biometric data, disproportionate impact on certain communities, and violating data security orders.

As part of the settlement:

Rite Aid is banned from using facial recognition for surveillance for five years.
The company must implement strong safeguards for biometric information use.
If risks to consumers can’t be managed, Rite Aid must stop using this technology.
It must establish a robust information security program overseen by top executives.
Any collected biometric information must be deleted within five years.
Rite Aid needs to notify consumers about the use of facial recognition technology and handle related complaints.

Despite disagreeing with the accusations, Rite Aid agreed to settle with the FTC, pending approval from the bankruptcy court and federal district court. The company aims to improve its financial standing while continuing to serve its communities.