FTC Imposes Five-Year Ban on Rite Aid's Facial Recognition Use

Rite Aid has been banned by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from using facial surveillance systems for the next five years as part of a settlement. The FTC accused the drugstore chain of recklessly using facial recognition technology from 2012 to 2020, resulting in thousands of false-positive alerts. The system was more likely to generate false positives in predominantly Black and Asian communities. Rite Aid is required to delete the collected photos, notify consumers when their information is registered, and implement a proper data security program. The company disagrees with the allegations but has agreed to enhance its information security practices.