Teen’s $1B suit claims Apple’s facial recognition software led to false arrest

[zenkai]

Source

He’s trying to save face.

A New York man filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Apple, claiming the tech giant’s facial-recognition software wrongly blamed him for stealing from Apple stores.

Ousmane Bah, 18, claims someone used a stolen ID to pass themselves off as him when they were busted stealing $1,200 worth of merchandise from an Apple store in Boston on May 31, 2018, according to papers filed in Manhattan federal court.

The ID listed his name, address and other personal information — but did not include a photo. Bah believes Apple took the perp at his word, and then programmed its security systems to recognize the man’s face as Bah’s.

The thief then ripped off Apple stores in New Jersey, Delaware and Manhattan — incidents Bah was blamed for, the suit claims.

He only learned about the mix-up after receiving a Boston municipal court summons in the mail in June, according to court papers.

The NYPD arrested him on Nov. 29, but a detective working the case viewed surveillance footage from the Manhattan store and concluded that the suspect “looked nothing like” Bah, his lawsuit states.

Charges against Bah have been dropped in every state except New Jersey, where the case is still pending.

Apple’s “use of facial recognition software in its stores to track individuals suspected of theft is the type of Orwellian surveillance that consumers fear, particularly as it can be assumed that the majority of consumers are not aware that their faces are secretly being analyzed,” the lawsuit states.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

Are you fine with facial recognition software without your consent ?

[Saucexorzski]

doesn't matter if we are, its a tool and it will be used. /shrug

[Cracked]

We may be fine or not fine with it, truth is that the picture of your face is not your property as long as you show it off in public.

I do however take issue with vigilantism like this - even if police wasn't interested enough in actually investigating the thievery.

[Najnaj]

Are you fine with facial recognition software without your consent ?

This case has very little to do with facial recognition software and more to do with humans failing to check if someone is who they claim to be.

[SirCowdog]

Are you fine with facial recognition software without your consent ?

The problem was not with the facial recognition software itself, but how the data was used. An arrest and charges were placed against a person without enough evidence.

I suppose there could be a case for probable cause, but I'd be interested to see what precedents are set by the outcome of this case, and if Apple's super lawyers can twist their way out of it.

[Pooti]

The ID listed his name, address and other personal information — but did not include a photo. Bah believes Apple took the perp at his word, and then programmed its security systems to recognize the man’s face as Bah’s.

I must be missing something. What does face recognition have to do with any of this? They went after Bah because the guy gave Bah's personal info. Bah was not arrested when walking into an Apple store when some system recognized his face, he received papers sent to his home. I do not see where face recognition even comes into play as the events have been outlined.

[OccasionalCortex]

All he should have to do is show his face with a government issued ID to clear his name, right? I know it’s a hassle and all. But the blame really lies on the thief. He should be suing the thief.
Their software works on logarithms using a “3D” dot matrix pattern based on your facial topography I believe. Hell, my phone won’t even recognize me without my glasses.
Now, if we had facial recognition software and cameras out on the street per se, this ID thief might get caught if he showed his face. I’d wager this isn’t the first time they stole from someone.

[zenkai]

This case has very little to do with facial recognition software and more to do with humans failing to check if someone is who they claim to be.

At the first store yes, but then because they tied his ID to the thief's face, he is accused of stealing from other stores outside the state and how he has to deal with those thefts.

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doesn't matter if we are, its a tool and it will be used. /shrug

Even though you can be falsely accused of doing crimes because your name is tied to someone else's face?

[vindicatorx]

Are you fine with facial recognition software without your consent ?

What kind of stupid question is this? It's their property they can use any type of security measure they want. Don't like it , don't shop there.

[zenkai]

I must be missing something. What does face recognition have to do with any of this? They went after Bah because the guy gave Bah's personal info. Bah was not arrested when walking into an Apple store when some system recognized his face, he received papers sent to his home. I do not see where face recognition even comes into play as the events have been outlined.

Because his name got tied to the thief's face, he was also accused of stealing from other apple stores outside his state. Now he had to deal with clearing his name.

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What kind of stupid question is this? It's their property they can use any type of security measure they want. Don't like it , don't shop there.

Why so hostile? I think it's a fair question.

[Kumorii]

Eh, they tied the name to the wrong suspect. I see no problem in tracking the face of a perp, which it sounds like they did. Then if they thought the name was his is just incompetence from apples side.

The entire purpose of surveillance in stores is to catch perps in the act.

[Pooti]

At the first store yes, but then because they tied his ID to the thief's face, he is accused of stealing from other stores outside the state and how he has to deal with those thefts.

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Even though you can be falsely accused of doing crimes because your name is tied to someone else's face?

I still do not see how Apple is to blame. They were robbed, they gave the police the information that they had. This all could have been done without using any high tech software. Store 1 that was given fake name plus security camera info passes that info to other locations. Boom. "A man of the same description has robbed us too, is likely the same suspect." I trust software more than I trust an eyewitness account.

[unbound]

This will ultimately be the challenge we face that not nearly enough people will understand.

It isn't that there is a tool, and that the tool will be used. The challenge is how we use the tool and understanding the limitations of that tool.

The tool clearly has issues with false-positives, but no one is trying to study the reliability of these tools. The false-positive rate doesn't have to be exceptionally high to be unreliable. It is dangerous to blindly accept these tools.

And what is the process to validate? "...a detective working the case viewed surveillance footage from the Manhattan store and concluded that the suspect “looked nothing like” Bah..." Furthermore, "Further, Bah was attending his senior prom in Manhattan when the Boston theft, where $1,200 worth of goods were stolen, took place." (https://www.engadget.com/2019/04/23/...rrest-lawsuit/) Yet, the case against Bah still hasn't been dropped by NJ.

[Pooti]

Surveillance cameras and word of mouth would tie the name to the face in the same manner. I would lay blame on authorities who arrested without looking at physical evidence first. But then, authorities do not have deep pockets. It is almost like this is a cash grab...

[Najnaj]

At the first store yes, but then because they tied his ID to the thief's face, he is accused of stealing from other stores outside the state and how he has to deal with those thefts.

Because someone very much human put his name into a system without properly checking. The facial recognition software worked perfectly and identified the culprit as it was presented to it. This is a data entry issue that has attached itself to a piece of software but it really could be attached to anything. The exact same thing would happen if I entered your name with my SS number and then went around defrauding banks with it for example.

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I still do not see how Apple is to blame. They were robbed, they gave the police the information that they had. This all could have been done without using any high tech software. Store 1 that was given fake name plus security camera info passes that info to other locations. Boom. "A man of the same description has robbed us too, is likely the same suspect." I trust software more than I trust an eyewitness account.

Because it is an Apple employee that entered the bad information in the first place. The lawsuit is ridiculous but it is still very much Apples fault.

[Pooti]

Because someone very much human put his name into a system without properly checking. The facial recognition software worked perfectly and identified the culprit as it was presented to it. This is a data entry issue that has attached itself to a piece of software but it really could be attached to anything. The exact same thing would happen if I entered your name with my SS number and then went around defrauding banks with it for example.

This 100%. The perpetrator is not at fault, the authorities are not to blame, lets blame the VICTIM of the crime because they are the wealthiest.

[Scottyjscizzle]

This is done without software all the time, shit we had printed flyers with security pictures and names if available of people suspected of fraud and theft at toys r us. The problem here is human error

[Doctor Amadeus]

It depends. This is an Area I’ve worked in a lot of years. People have a lot of wacky ass ideas about cameras and how they are used. Even I have a big problem with big corporation much less government with technology like this. Because more often than not it gets misused and the science can go out the window.

Shit that’s on tv or film for example isn’t realistic so the issue here makes sense.

So am I ok with facial recognition? Yes provided it’s in the right hands and we always account for bias.

Do I think anyone or everyone should use this? NO

Because like with stress test for example it can be misunderstood regardless to bias.

[jcf190]

Lie detector tests are still in use even though they're pure pseudo-science. I don't see how something like this happening is functionally different. Technology is only as good as the people using it.

[Noradin]

We may be fine or not fine with it, truth is that the picture of your face is not your property as long as you show it off in public.

But it is.