In a letter Friday to Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) said the plans — which involve using facial recognition tools in digital displays to target advertising to customers and collect information on them — potentially pave the way for biased pricing discrimination.
“Studies have shown that facial recognition technology is flawed and can lead to discrimination in predominantly Black and Brown neighborhoods,” Tlaib wrote in the letter, which was posted on social media Tuesday. “The racial biases of facial recognition technology are well documented and should not be extended into our grocery stores.”
Kroger is the largest grocery store chain in the country with nearly 3,000 stores and $3.1 billion in profits in 2023. Kroger and other retailers already use electronic shelving labels instead of paper labels to rapidly adjust prices based on a variety of factors, including time of purchase, where a grocery store is located and other data.
The plan to use facial recognition technology could allow the retailer to build individual profiles on customers, based on data like their gender and shopping habits.
In an August letter sent to McMullen about the same plans, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bob Casey (D-PA) said they were concerned about the chain building “personalized profiles of each customer, and then use those profiles ‘to determine how much price hiking each of us can tolerate,’ quickly updating and displaying the customer’s maximum willingness to pay on the digital price tag.”
The use of facial recognition tools in Kroger stores also raises concerns about how Kroger intends to “adequately” safeguard customer data, the Warren and Casey letter said.
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Mask mandates may not be in effect but I can wear one to the grocery store. This is stupid and I will not participate.
That might be ugly, but something like that…
Oh no, I accidentally smudged a little bit of paint over the facial recognition camera lens… Oops!
We need a law in the US banning the use of computer assistance for identifying humans. Hands down. It’s not accurate, and it only emboldens people controlling resources.
And it definitely won’t negatively affect people of color, at all, will it?
This is how you end up with laws mandating paper cards with pricing information.
Surge pricing=price gouging, there is no difference
Kroger also owns Ralphs, Dillons, Smith’s, King Soopers, Fred Myer, Fry’s, QFC, City Market, Owen’s, Jay C, Pay Less, Baker’s, Gerbes, Harris Teeter, Pick‘n Save, Metro Market and Mariano’s.
Thank fuck I haven’t heard of a single one of those stores and have never shopped in them
That’s not surprising, if you live outside of the US. Otherwise, I do have a follow up query for you 😅
I’m in the us. Must be a west coast thing.