The Biometric Information Privacy Act enacted in 2008 in the state of Illinois provided protection to customers from undisclosed collection and use of biometric data.
Target along with numerous retailers is plagued with theft and has introduced systems to identify serial shoplifters. The Illinois Act makes it unlawful for a company to “collect, capture, purchase, receive or otherwise obtain a person’s biometric identifiers without informed consent and approval in writing.”
The application of biometric surveillance is highly contentious. Rite Aid agreed to cease using facial recognition technology following action by the Federal Trade Commission. Defects in the technology used incorrectly identified innocent shoppers as potential serial shoplifters.
Facial recognition technology has many drawbacks including differentiation among people of color. Identifying individuals in large groups is practiced by the Government of the People’s Republic of China to identify political dissidents and potential provocateurs in street gatherings.