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Teenager Claims Apple's In-Store Facial Recognition System Mistakenly Led To His Arrest (scmp.com) 189

An 18-year-old from New York is suing Apple for $1 billion -- saying an erroneous facial recognition system in their stores wrongfully led to his arrest. An anonymous reader quotes the Washington Post: Ousmane Bah, who was arrested at his home in November, claims the warrant included a photo of someone else. The lawsuit also said a detective with the New York Police Department concluded the thief caught on the shop's surveillance camera "looked nothing like" Bah. The lawsuit, citing the detective, says Apple uses facial recognition technology to identify shoplifters. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bah said he had an interim learner's permit, which does not have a photo, that had either been lost or stolen. His lawyer said the permit may have been presented as identification at Apple stores, erroneously matching Bah's name with the thief's face in the company's security system. That means every time the perpetrator walked into an Apple store, his face would register as Bah on Apple's surveillance.

Bah had been charged in multiple jurisdictions including New York, Massachusetts, Delaware and New Jersey, according to the lawsuit. Charges in three cases against Bah have been dropped, but the New Jersey case is pending.

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Teenager Claims Apple's In-Store Facial Recognition System Mistakenly Led To His Arrest

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  • Hey guys, are you sure your leaders are okay with you posting a story about a possibly erroneous arrest facilitated by facial recognition? I’m wondering who your editor will be, a week from now...

    Stay safe!

    • by I75BJC ( 4590021 )
      What you didn't notice is that they write that the Original Story is from the Blessed Washington Post. (Isn't that Zuck's newspaper?)

      Here's a copy and paste from SCMP: "The Washington Post Published: 10:48pm, 23 Apr, 2019"

      Please learn to read!
    • Hey guys, are you sure your leaders are okay with you posting a story/p>

      SCMP is published in Hong Kong, and is a reputable newspaper.

    • Hey guys, are you sure your leaders are okay with you posting a story about a possibly erroneous arrest facilitated by facial recognition?

      It's quite clear by now that there was no facial recognition involved in his arrest. As demonstrated by the fact that there are photos of a thief and photos of him on the internet, and no facial recognition would ever have tied them together.

  • It sounds like someone stole this guy's ID and used it as their own. This could lead to mistaken identity with or without technological aids. I'm not sure what Apple did wrong here. What is the basis of the suit?
    • by sjames ( 1099 ) on Sunday April 28, 2019 @06:01PM (#58506846) Homepage Journal

      When you make serious allegations against someone in 4 states you'd better be damned sure you have it right. They didn't.

      They mindlessly attached one person's ID to another person's face and reported it to the police as if it was established fact.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        When you make serious allegations against someone in 4 states you'd better be damned sure you have it right. They didn't.

        Apple gave all the evidence they had to the police. The police took it from there. It was the job of the police to investigate, and it was the police that requested the arrest warrant based on probable cause.

        So why is he suing Apple, instead of the police? Obviously, because Apple has more money.

        This was a routine case of mistaken identity. This happens all the time. The matter was quickly cleared up, and he was released. Sure, it could have all been handled better if the police had infinite resources

        • by sjames ( 1099 ) on Sunday April 28, 2019 @07:11PM (#58507132) Homepage Journal

          The matter was quickly cleared up, and he was released

          Four times in four states, but the fourth one is still pending. He recieved his first summons over the false charges June of last year. Apparently it's not being cleared up all that quickly.

          Consider, all this because Apple took a known shoplifter's word for it when he gave them his name. Of course, we all know a shoplifter's word is as good as gold!

          • Then there would be no threat of any law suit.

            Outside the US, police would have asked him a few questions, gone back to confirm the facts, and that would be the end of it. The whole arrest and presumably detention with handcuffs etc. does not happen for an indirect shop lifting suspicion.

          • Apparently it's not being cleared up all that quickly.

            Indeed. They should pay BILLIONS!

            Consider, all this because Apple took a known shoplifter's word for it when he gave them his name.

            Actually no. It's all because the police ran with all the information they were presented and are slow to clear up the misunderstanding. Look tough break kid, but maybe you should be compensated your current wage * the number of hours you actually talked to people about this and go buy yourself an ice-cream or something.

        • by Agripa ( 139780 )

          So why is he suing Apple, instead of the police? Obviously, because Apple has more money.

          The police have immunity. The prosecutors have immunity. The judge who signed the arrest warrants have immunity. Apple does not.

      • >"When you make serious allegations against someone in 4 states you'd better be damned sure you have it right. They didn't."

        While I agree with you, why in the world would the police ARREST this guy? I mean, yeah, call him in for questioning or drop by for an interview. But to arrest someone when the photo is obviously not him is WAY OVER THE TOP. It was a non-violent crime, after the fact, with no witnesses, and bogus "evidence." If it were me, I would sue both Apple AND the police department that ar

        • by MikeMo ( 521697 )
          I’m sorry, but I don’t see why Apple should be party to this suit. Exactly what did THEY do wrong?
          • by TRRosen ( 720617 )

            I’m sorry, but I don’t see why Apple should be party to this suit. Exactly what did THEY do wrong?

            They had the most money

        • by Agripa ( 139780 )

          While I agree with you, why in the world would the police ARREST this guy?

          They had probable cause based on the false information Apple provided. What else would they do?

          • >"They had probable cause based on the false information Apple provided. What else would they do?"

            Open an investigation.
            Examine the "evidence".
            Talk with the guy.
            Compare the photo(s) to him.
            See if any of it makes sense.

            THEN decide if there is probable cause based on that investigation. If there is, THEN arrest him and charge him.

            With a non-violent, after-the-fact crime, there is no reason to arrest first and ask questions later.

      • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward

        "Reported it...as if it was established fact."

        There's quite a lot of that going on these days.

      • by gnasher719 ( 869701 ) on Monday April 29, 2019 @03:44AM (#58508350)

        They mindlessly attached one person's ID to another person's face and reported it to the police as if it was established fact.

        They had photos of a thief. And they had an ID that the thief dropped. It was established fact that they had photos of the thief, and an ID that the thief dropped.

        If someone broke in your home, and your Ring camera took a photo, and you found the library card of an unknown person at your home, you would hand that over to the police, and the police would give the owner of the library card a visit. Common sense. Apparently the mention of "Apple" turns off common sense.

        • Apparently the mention of "Apple" turns off common sense.

          Apparently, Apple's testimony to the police turns off all common sense too. It takes two to tango. ;)

          (I don't actually know who is right or wrong, just pointing out an issue with what you said and the direction you were going.)

      • by TRRosen ( 720617 )

        When you make serious allegations against someone in 4 states you'd better be damned sure you have it right. They didn't.

        They mindlessly attached one person's ID to another person's face and reported it to the police as if it was established fact.

        They made no allegations. And attaching the ID to the person's face was an established fact. That person had that ID..Fact.
        Apple reported the facts ... police made accusations.

      • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

        The cops are the ones who are supposed to make sure it's right. Apple gave the cops the information they had. The cops didn't both verifying if it was correct before making an arrest.

        Replace Apple with "your ex-wife," "the neighbour who hates you" or "some whack-a-doodle on Slashdot" and you hopefully see the problem with that approach.

    • by Jeremi ( 14640 ) on Sunday April 28, 2019 @06:07PM (#58506862) Homepage

      It sure sounds like the basis is that Apple has a billion dollars, and the plaintiff would also like to have a billion dollars.

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by msauve ( 701917 )
        Apple has much, much, more than a billion dollars. To get them to feel the error of their ways, that seems a very minimal amount. At the same time, the complainant hasn't sustained nearly that much actual damage.

        Justice would say take a billion from Apple, give a million to the guy, and give the punitive amount to some organization with a strong history of protecting personal rights in relation to technology. EFF? Yeah, the law doesn't work that way, but only because the law is blind to justice.
    • It sounds like someone stole this guy's ID and used it as their own. This could lead to mistaken identity with or without technological aids. I'm not sure what Apple did wrong here. What is the basis of the suit?

      Yep this is a straight up case up case of identity theft. The thief steals an identity, then uses that identity to perform a crime and the blame gets assigned to the victim of identity theft. I'm pretty sure this has happened before, but without the party that was swindled by the fake identity bein

      • Mr Ousmane Bah's "identity" hasn't been "stolen", he's had the
        same identity all along and continues to have it to this day.
        I'm pretty sure he was Mr Ousmane Bah before the incidents,
        was Ousmane Bah at the time the of the incidents, and is
        still Ousmane Bah now.
        He did not wake up one morning thinking "F*ck, who am I today?
        I think my very own identity could have been... *horror*
        stolen!?"

        It wasn't him who was a victim, at least not until his wrongful
        arrest.

        Now Apple, on the other hand, has been a victim of frau

        • Now Apple, on the other hand, has been a victim of fraud. Somebody claimed to be Ousmane Bah, and they believed it. While nobody stole anything from Ousmane Bah, somebody did steal something from Apple by claiming to be somebdoy they trusted, and by Apple being sufficiently naive (or careless) to believe that.

          It is unlikely that it happened that way. It looks more like we had a serial thief, who was found stealing on a surveillance camera in multiple stores, and who somehow managed to drop Bah's card with name and address on it.

          • Somebody dropped Bah's card and they thought it was Bah himself.

            Somebody claimed to be Bah and they believed it.

            Same thing to me, the claim doesn't necessarily have to be verbal. Could be implicit.

        • It's textbook Identity Theft. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

          Identity theft is the deliberate use of someone else's identity, usually as a method to gain a financial advantage or obtain credit and other benefits in the other person's name, and perhaps to the other person's disadvantage or loss. The person whose identity has been assumed may suffer adverse consequences, especially if they are held responsible for the perpetrator's actions. Identity theft occurs when someone uses another's personally i

          • I know the definition. My point was that "text book identity theft" itself is a scam. It's a deliberate plot from banks to make *you* responsible when *they* give your money to the wrong guy because they couldn't be bothered to design a system to reliably check your identity.

            There were times when random guys cleaning out your bank savings was considered "bank robbery", and the bank was in for the damage. Then, with the advent of wire transfer and computers in the 70s and 80s, check fraud appeared, and it wa

            • Replying to myself to clarify: Apple is here in a similar situation. They designed a system that does not work without flaws, and when those systems err and cause costs and distress to uninvolved bystanders, everybody shrugs "it's identity theft, nothing Apple could have done about it; the other guy should suck it up".

    • Because apple has lots of money and will possibly pay an 'ethnic' person a tidy sum of from in order to avoid the bad press associated with any perceived bias.

  • by Anonymous Coward

    The charges were dropped, but Apple still grievously had the individual charged without having anyone check the validity of the ID first and the police did not check the ID before the arrest was made. If his ID was reported stolen then why did Apple not insist on checking for this first with the police? Racially motivated expedience?

    I hope he gets a great payday from this and it serves as a lesson to retailers to check digital records and not jump to conclusions about digital records which include facial I

    • by ShanghaiBill ( 739463 ) on Sunday April 28, 2019 @06:54PM (#58507020)

      If his ID was reported stolen then why did Apple not insist on checking for this first with the police?

      Because it is not Apple's job to be the police. The police should be the police.

      Are you seriously suggesting that corporations start doing independent criminal investigations, and be given access to ID databases?

      What about a private citizen who is robbed? Should he also be required to conduct a criminal investigation, including cross checking ID databases, before filing a complaint?

    • by TRRosen ( 720617 )

      Start the case with racially motivated malicious prosecution to get it out of the civil realm

      Requires you prove malice. That's pretty much impossible.

  • "The suit insinuates Appleâ(TM)s retail stores use facial recognition technology to identify shoppers, which an Apple spokesperson denied to KTVU."

    https://www.phillyvoice.com/te... [phillyvoice.com]

  • Does that number even mean anything? Isn't there a law against such outlandish claims?
    If not, why specify an amount, just sue for infinity.

    • Re:$1 billion? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Zuriel ( 1760072 ) on Sunday April 28, 2019 @07:10PM (#58507126)
      We live in a world where the financial damage from downloading music is apparently more than the amount of money that has ever existed so sure, why not.
      • We live in a world where the financial damage from downloading music is apparently more than the amount of money that has ever existed so sure, why not.

        Think about how much more wealth would exist then if people would stop downloading music. People who download music for free are destroying the wealth that our society would otherwise benefit from.

        • by Mal-2 ( 675116 )

          Think about how much wealth would be created if we just took all music and media that have ever been archived, put them in one Big Box, and let everyone in the world have a copy of the Box for one day, like the Stanley Cup. It would be all the money in the world multiplied by all the people in the world!

  • What do you need to show ID to buy at an Apple store? They don't sell liquor, smokes, or guns last I checked.

    I've never been asked for my papers at an Apple store, when paying cash or with card. I've been asked to show ID to set up a post-paid phone account or make changes, but I've generally handled that directly through the carrier, not via Apple.

    If I were asked for papers to buy something, I'd probably tell the genius to pleasure themselves with power tool and buy somewhere else.

    • What do you need to show ID to buy at an Apple store? They don't sell liquor, smokes, or guns last I checked.

      You don't. A serial thief, caught on camera multiple times, dropped an ID. The obvious assumption is that it might be his ID, and if you go to the address on the ID, you catch the thief. Apple didn't ask for ID. Plenty of stupid burglars have never been asked for ID, and got caught by dropping their ID or something identifying them at the crime scene. Unfortunately, the ID that the thief dropped was also stolen.

  • Surely a trillion better than a billion. There will be a settlement for much less. As others have said Apple did not arrest the person, and was let go quickly when it was obvious a mistake. Free iPhones for life for winning the inconvenience lottery.
  • Could the gentleman please tell us the steps to repeat the process?

    You can arrest me wrongly for a billion anytime. Twice on a Sunday!

  • You can not sue for libel or defamation due to a police report.
    For wrongful prosecution you must prove malice. That is that Apple really hated this guy and purposely was out to get him.
    Not a chance here.
    He may have a pretty good case for a charge malpractice against his lawyer for taking his money.

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