Rite Aid Banned from Using Facial Recognition for Five Years

FTC Imposes Ban Following Misuse of Technology and Violation of Data Security Order

Rite Aid, the drugstore chain, has been banned from using facial recognition in its store security systems for five years due to misuse of the technology.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) imposed the ban as part of a settlement with Rite Aid, which also covered its violation of a 2010 order around data security.
Rite Aid's facial recognition system, in use from October 2012 to July 2020, led to store employees falsely accusing people of being known shoplifters, detaining or searching them, and calling the police on them.
The system was unreliable and generated thousands of false positives. It was particularly likely to wrongly identify Black, Asian, Latino, and women consumers.
Rite Aid has been struggling financially and is currently undergoing a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy process.