In 2022, two men entered a Houston, Texas Sunglass Hut and threatened the store staff with a gun.
The men demanded cash and took sunglasses from the store shelves.
Sunglass Hut turned to a nearby Macey’s store to help with surveillance footage.
Macey’s used facial recognition to identify one of the robbers, who was also a suspect in similar types of robberies at other locations.
They brought all the evidence to the Houston Police.
Based on the evidence, police arrested Harvey M. for the Sunglass Hut robbery.
The catch was that Harvey said he was in California at the time of the robbery.
Harvey spent two weeks in jail before prosecutors were able to verify that he was in California at the time of the crime.
During his two weeks in jail Harvey alleged he was attacked and assaulted by three men.
This led him to sue Macey’s and Sunglass Hut for $10 million based on the negligent use of facial recognition technology.
Harvey didn’t include the police in the lawsuit because he said they were just doing their job.
Macey’s and Sunglass Hut said they had the guy and the police were trusting the evidence was accurate. It wasn’t.
“Not a day goes by he doesn’t think about it,” said Harvey’s lawyer.
The lawsuit highlights how innocent people have their lives turned upside down by failures of facial recognition.
And the scary truth is, for convenience and access, more companies are using facial recognition than ever before.
Recently, the NFL announced that facial recognition would be used at stadiums to verify admittance into restricted areas.
The NFL partnered with a company called Wicket, a facial recognition software company.
Wicket said the company’s technology was being used to verify the identity of “credential holders seeking access to restricted areas of the stadium, not for ticket holders.”
Yet, the technology is still far from perfect.
So, here are a few things to know in case you plan on visiting a sports stadium or other place that uses the technology.
Independent testing:
As mentioned above, the company being used by the NFL is called Wicket.
But Wicket hasn’t opened up its software to independent testing.
So, the encryption code hasn’t been audited for accuracy or security by a third party.
Avoiding third-party audits means that any potential software failures (if they exist) haven’t been exposed.
The NFL is just trusting that everything will work as it’s intended.
So, if you are using or trusting facial recognition software make sure it has been tested by a third party to work out any issues.
Everyone is recorded:
The reality is that everyone who walks into an NFL stadium is being captured by surveillance cameras with facial recognition.
All this data is being collected by the company Wicket.
But what does the company do with the data?
Is it stored long-term, or deleted shortly after each game?
Who can access it?
Will the company hand over data requested by the police, even without a warrant?
These are all important questions that need answered.
Because any data held by the company is at risk of compromise.
In addition, the data collected by Wicket could be sold or shared with law enforcement.
And the NFL privacy policy already says they will share information with law enforcement to investigate violations of laws.
Which sounds to me like if the police ask for the facial recognition data they will get it.
So, be sure to check privacy policies with any place you plan to visit.
And ask the establishment what they do with the data and who they share it with.
Sell out:
As of now, the NFL claims they aren’t selling biometric data collected at stadiums.
But this will likely change given the fact that the NFL will eventually want to monetize the massive amount of data they are gathering.
Imagine if the NFL could sell data about all the people who purchased Coca-Cola products at the stadiums.
Then, Coca-Cola could turn around and target those folks with advertising.
Eventually, your biometric data could be sold to the highest bidder.
But whether you visit an NFL stadium or your local mall, chances are facial recognition software is capturing your data.
As you decide where to shop, visit, or travel, it’s a good idea to know what the company collects and what they do with the information gathered.
It’s also why you need to have your vital information on “lockdown,” especially online.
No one is looking out for your best interest but you, so you need to take things into your own hands.
