Kroger’s facial recognition plans draw increasing concern from lawmakers
therecord.media
Kroger’s plans to roll out facial recognition tools at its grocery stores is attracting increased criticism from lawmakers, who warn that it could be exploited to increase the prices certain individuals pay for food and put customers’ personal data at risk.

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.

  • lemmeBe@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    1·
    40 分钟前

    This is appalling.

    So nice to live in the Balkans where prices are still on paper, and in some stores you can still barter depending on the quantity you’re buying. 😄

  • wrekone@lemmyf.ukEnglish
    9·
    4 小时前

    A Kroger spokesperson said in a statement that the company’s business model is built on a “foundation of lowering prices to attract more customers.” “To be clear, Kroger does not and has never engaged in ‘surge pricing,’” the statement said. “Any test of electronic shelf tags is designed to lower prices for more customers where it matters most.”

    I know these PR people get paid a lot to tell bald-faced lies, but I just don’t understand how they live with themselves.

    • Etterra@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      3 小时前

      Because they’re high-functioning sociopaths. About 1 in 100 people are, and they tend to gravitate into executive, sales, legal, marketing, “law” enforcement, and other careers where having little to no empathy or conscience is a distinct advantage.

  • MajorHavoc@programming.devEnglish
    30·
    11 小时前

    I think they are absolutely, positively, going to breach their face database and everyone’s purchase history all over the Internet.

    I’ve been watching for an event like this with popcorn ready.

    I’ve got a good/bad/terrible feeling that they’re playing for keeps in the race to be the biggest consumer privacy headline public relations disaster.

  • atrielienz@lemmy.worldEnglish
    17·
    10 小时前

    Mask mandates may not be in effect but I can wear one to the grocery store. This is stupid and I will not participate.

  • dan@upvote.auEnglish
    901·
    16 小时前

    “To be clear, Kroger does not and has never engaged in ‘surge pricing,’” the statement said. “Any test of electronic shelf tags is designed to lower prices for more customers where it matters most.”

    Isn’t that the same thing? It doesn’t matter if you raise prices on demand or lower them, the outcome is the same - different pricing at different times.

    • abigscaryhobo@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      9 小时前

      Yeah see it’s not surge pricing! We actually lower prices whentheresnobodyintheaisle so that the discounts are passed on to you! Also we list the lowered price in the ads and apps so when you come in you can be surprised by power of our tech! and the updated price

    • Letstakealook@lemm.eeEnglish
      59·
      16 小时前

      This is all a misunderstanding! The high price IS the regular price. We lower the prices at certain times to benefit our customers, who we love so very much. This is totally not surge pricing!

    • rand_alpha19@moist.catsweat.com
      22·
      15 小时前

      “Well, you see, ‘surge pricing’ means raising prices during the most high-traffic times. Here at Kroger, we pride ourselves in raising prices slightly before and after the peak times, and that’s technically not surge pricing! It’s just dynamic pricing with surge characteristics.”

      • WoodScientist@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        8 小时前

        “Alright you chucklefuckers. Here’s the new law. You are required to have paper tags, the only discount you can offer is paper coupons sent through the mail to everyone in an area, and you’re never allowed to alter your prices more than once per week.”

  • just_another_person@lemmy.worldEnglish
    661·
    16 小时前

    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.

    • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
      914·
      15 小时前

      I donr think you underatand who rules the US…

      This ia a featuee of the system, not a bug

        • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
          810·
          14 小时前

          The oligarchs who each own a large steak in critical enterprises for the economy, which permits them to dictate policy and extract value from the state via various transfers from the treasury via tax regimes, loans or other state aid.

          Kinda weird for presumably an adult not to know this… but i guess we get politics we deserve after all

          Common plebs can’t even ID their owners 🤡

          • just_another_person@lemmy.worldEnglish
            413·
            14 小时前

            Riiiight. Thank you for reminding me that I ALWAYS forget about those “five jew bankers”. Is it “four jew bankers”? How many Jewish people are in the mix here, and how mad should be about this?

              • just_another_person@lemmy.worldEnglish
                26·
                14 小时前

                Riiiight. Saying what you’re saying is totally equivalent to bringing up the same old bullshit that’s been used for hundreds of years.

                So Oprah is in control of the community college classes I take and the AA meetings I go to which radicalize me? So confused. Where should I be going to find out the REAL TRUTH?

  • ItsComplicated@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    36·
    15 小时前

    If companies can’t protect the information they collect now, (a large portion of it gathered without consent), how are they going to protect even more information; and where can I opt out?..smh

  • PunnyName@lemmy.worldEnglish
    192·
    13 小时前

    And it definitely won’t negatively affect people of color, at all, will it?

  • HootinNHollerin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    35·
    13 小时前

    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.

  • EndOfLine@lemm.eeEnglish
    22·
    16 小时前

    Well, they wrote some letters. There’s nothing more the nations law makers can do to protect citizens from corporate greed and price gouging. /s