Rite Aid, one of the United States’ largest drug retail chains, has agreed to discontinue the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled facial recognition technology in its stores for a period of five years, in a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC made the announcement this Tuesday, marking the end of its complaint against the company.
In the complaint, which has now reached a resolution, the FTC made serious allegations against Rite Aid, claiming that the company failed to put in place adequate measures to prevent harm to consumers. The problematic technology had reportedly been operational in hundreds of Rite Aid stores from 2012 through 2020.
Samuel Levine, the director of the FTC’s Consumer Protection Bureau, spoke sternly about the FTC’s commitment to safeguarding public interests against unreasonable surveillance practices. He stated, “the Commission will be vigilant in protecting the public from unfair biometric surveillance and unfair data security practices”. According to Levine’s office, such practices are blatantly against consumer rights and interests, and organisations employing facial recognition technologies are liable to be investigated by the FTC.
By entering into this settlement, Rite Aid appears to be accepting the compliance aspects laid out by the FTC, although it must be noted that the company has strongly denied any allegations of wrongdoing while using AI-based facial recognition. Despite accepting the proposed five-year ban, Rite Aid maintains its stance of having done nothing illegal while using this technology.
The complete account of the settlement and more on this case can be found here.