From denying a cat’s entry to denying a person’s entry:
A sign at the front of the store reads, “Look at camera for entry” and “Facial Recognition Technology In Use.” An automated voice tells approaching customers through a mounted speaker to look up at the camera.
KIRO 7 first learned about the facial recognition technology being used there from a customer, a regular at the store, who posted about it on Facebook after stopping by the 24-hour location at night last week.
“Tonight, I was confronted with a whole new Jackson’s,” she wrote. “You had to stare at the camera before they let you in.”
The woman said she was told by clerks that the technology is being used to cut down on thefts from the store.
“Sometimes I would walk out of there, jaw to the ground, at the in-your-face theft,” she wrote.
‘Look at camera for entry’: Tacoma convenience store using facial recognition technology
The makers of this technology, Blue Line Technology, seem rather overconfident: “Blue Line Technology spokesperson Sawyer said the software has never misidentified anyone.” Meanwhile, state-of-the-art facial recognition technology is notoriously inaccurate with dark-skinned individuals and women.
So if you’re a dark-skinned individual mistakenly identified as “bad,” what does the appeal process look like? Stand outside and shout at the clerk?