Facial Recognition in Walmart stores
Information Certainty: Documented
Deployment Purpose: Commercial Surveillance
| Summary |
|---|
| 0 |
Products and Institutions:
| Product Deployed | Clearview AI (Software) Everseen (Software) |
|---|---|
| Institutions ⠉ | Clearview AI Everseen |
| Datasets | Clearview AI (Dataset) Everseen |
| Search software |
Status and Events:
| Status | Stopped |
|---|---|
| Events | Start (2 January 2015, Documented, , No description) |
| Start Date | |
| End Date |
Users:
| Involved Entities | |
|---|---|
| Managed by | Walmart |
| Used by | Walmart |
Location:
| City | Bentonville (AR) |
|---|---|
| Country ⠉ | USA |
Description[ ]
The first reports of Walmart using facial recognition are from 2015 when the store used it to identify shoplifters for an experimental period.
It tested a system that scanned the face of everyone entering several of its stores, identified suspected shoplifters, and instantly alerted store security on their mobile devices 1
In 2019, it was found that Walmart had been using computer vision to monitor checkouts for at least two years. While journalists could not establish whether the computer vision used facial recognition or not, the cameras took the form of 'selfie-sticks'.
Walmart is using computer vision technology to monitor checkouts and deter potential theft in more than 1,000 stores, the company confirmed to Business Insider. The surveillance program, which Walmart refers to internally as Missed Scan Detection, uses cameras to help identify checkout scanning errors and failures 2
While it’s unclear if the surveillance program scans and stores customers’ features within sight, its use is apparently nothing new. A statement on behalf of Everseen AI, one of the companies that provides the artificial intelligence vision technology for Walmart, confirmed the program has been in place for nearly two years 5
In 2020, it was revealed that Walmart employees had Clearview AI accounts and had performed searches. In 2022, a suit the ACLU brought against Clearview in Illinois means that Clearview AI can no longer sell its software to private companies like Walmart.
Employees at big-box retailers, supermarkets, pharmacy chains, and department stores have also trialed Clearview. Company logs reviewed by BuzzFeed News include Walmart (nearly 300 searches) 4
The facial recognition company Clearview AI will no longer be allowed to sell its database of faces to US-based businesses and private entities, according to a settlement agreement with the American Civil Liberties Union that was filed in an Illinois court on Monday 3
References
- a b "Sci-fi tech used by Walmart to spot shoplifters raises privacy questions". (2015) <https://fortune.com/2015/11/09/wal-mart-facial-recognition/> Accessed: 2022-06-05
- a b "Walmart reveals it's tracking checkout theft with AI-powered cameras in 1,000 stores". (2019) <https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-tracks-theft-with-computer-vision-1000-stores-2019-6> Accessed: 2022-06-05
- a b "Controversial facial recognition company Clearview AI banned from selling face database to private US businesses". (2022) <https://www.businessinsider.com/clearview-ai-facial-recognition-lawsuit-us-businesses-private-companies-2022-05> Accessed: 2022-06-05
- a b "Clearview’s Facial Recognition App Has Been Used By The Justice Department, ICE, Macy’s, Walmart, And The NBA". (2020) <https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/clearview-ai-fbi-ice-global-law-enforcement> Accessed: 2022-06-05
- a b "Walmart Confirms Use of AI-Powered Cameras to Detect Stealing". (2019) <https://observer.com/2019/06/walmart-ai-cameras-detect-stealing/> Accessed: 2022-06-05