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PHILADELPHIA — Rite Aid Corp. has reached a comprehensive settlement agreement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding the company’s historical use of facial recognition technology to prevent retail theft and issues relating to the company’s compliance with a 2010 Commission Order.
Rite Aid will be prohibited from using facial recognition technology for surveillance purposes for five years to settle US Federal Trade Commission charges it harmed consumers, the FTC said.
The company issued the following statement:
“We are pleased to reach an agreement with the FTC and put this matter behind us. We respect the FTC’s inquiry and are aligned with the agency’s mission to protect consumer privacy. However, we fundamentally disagree with the facial recognition allegations in the agency’s complaint. The allegations relate to a facial recognition technology pilot program the Company deployed in a limited number of stores. Rite Aid stopped using the technology in this small group of stores more than three years ago, before the FTC’s investigation regarding the Company’s use of the technology began.
Rite Aid’s mission has always been and will continue to be to safely and conveniently serve the communities in which we operate. The safety of our associates and customers is paramount. As part of the agreement with the FTC, we will continue to enhance and formalize the practices and policies of our comprehensive information security program.
Looking ahead, we are focused on the important actions underway to strengthen our financial position as we continue providing leading healthcare products and services to the nearly one million customers that we serve daily.”
The settlement with the FTC is subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court overseeing Rite Aid’s ongoing restructuring and the U.S. Federal District Court in which the FTC filed its complaint.
