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Home Depot sued for 'secretly' using facial recognition at self-checkouts

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Re: Home Depot sued for 'secretly' using facial recognition at self-checkouts

#3
The green box around his face in the image is evidence that it detected a face, but not that it had collected or stored identifying biometrics. It would be legal for a POS device to detect any face, e.g. to help decide when to reset for the next customer. But as I understand it, this would usually be enough to trigger discovery, where he could learn the necessary technical details.

Even if this suit fails, the store is vulnerable to continuous repeats by other parties. Written consent from each customer is the only viable protection. So the BIPA law may mean that face detection, not just recognition, is not practical in Illinois.

Re: Home Depot sued for 'secretly' using facial recognition at self-checkouts

#4
post #3

The green box around his face in the image is evidence that it detected a face, but not that it had collected or stored identifying biometrics. It would be legal for a POS device to detect any face, e.g. to help decide when to reset for the next customer. But as I understand it, this would usually be enough to trigger discovery, where he could learn the necessary technical details. Even if this suit fails, the store…

[deleted]

Re: Home Depot sued for 'secretly' using facial recognition at self-checkouts

#5
Sounds like the guy is fishing here. Theres no proof in the article that Home Depot is actually storing his information. I'm personally pretty suspicious about the cameras at self checkouts and at the entrance of supermarkets, but this lawsuit looks like a waste of time, or this is a really badly written article.

Re: Home Depot sued for 'secretly' using facial recognition at self-checkouts

#7

Sounds like the guy is fishing here. Theres no proof in the article that Home Depot is actually storing his information. I'm personally pretty suspicious about the cameras at self checkouts and at the entrance of supermarkets, but this lawsuit looks like a waste of time, or this is a really badly written article.

Not our first rodeo. Post 2010 we ask for evidence data collection is not happening, and not being sold for $$$.

Re: Home Depot sued for 'secretly' using facial recognition at self-checkouts

#8
post #2

What's the purpose of the green square, anyways? Why not just have a regular camera feed?

It could a psychological trick: Look the camera is filming and we got your face specifically, so don't try to steal.

In my local supermarket, the screen turns on and shows the face of the customer when they select "finish and pay", which I suspect is to give a "honesty nudge".

Re: Home Depot sued for 'secretly' using facial recognition at self-checkouts

#10
My understanding of these systems is that the green box just detects a face to a) make it easier to scan hours of footage later looking for faces b) add a subtle intimidation factor against crime.

Is a picture of a face count as "biometric" information? I strongly doubt it and suspect this case will be thrown out.

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