Rite Aid deployed facial recognition system in hundreds of U.S. stores

Idiocy of racism exposed again! Why would major retail chains install expensive facial recognition systems in stores where they do not encounter frequent problems with customers? This has essentially nothing to do with racism! However, this makes a lot of common and business sense!

How did I learn about this nonsense, because a very well known, highly cited AI researcher, i.e. Andrew Ng, also spreads it! See Latest edition of The Batch by Andrew Ng Quote: "A major retailer’s AI-powered surveillance program apparently targeted poor people and minorities. ... It didn’t install the system in some nearby stores that had similar shoplifting rates but were located in predominantly white neighborhoods. ..."

I did not have the time to look into the latter allegation. However, it seems to be a phony claim by Andrew Ng, see below!

"In the hearts of New York and metro Los Angeles, Rite Aid installed facial recognition technology in largely lower-income, non-white neighborhoods, Reuters found. ... Over about eight years, the American drugstore chain Rite Aid Corp quietly added facial recognition systems to 200 stores across the United States, in one of the largest rollouts of such technology among retailers in the country, a Reuters investigation found. ... Among the 75 stores Reuters visited, those in areas that were poorer or less white were much more likely to have the equipment, the news agency’s statistical analysis found. ... Stores in more impoverished areas were nearly three times as likely as those in richer areas to have facial recognition cameras. Seventeen of 25 stores in poorer areas had the systems. In wealthier areas, it was 10 of 40."

So Reuters visited only 75 out of 200 stores? That is less than 40%! How biased was their selection?

Rite Aid deployed facial recognition system in hundreds of U.S. stores