A man named is suing Macy’s, claiming a false facial recognition match led to his wrongful arrest while he was already in prison.
Harvey Murphy Jr., 61, claims he was accused of armed robbery based on faulty facial recognition technology.
He says It mistakenly identified him as the perpetrator of a robbery at a Sunglass Hut in a Houston shopping center.
Murphy was in a Sacramento jail on unrelated charges at the time of the alleged robbery.
He was arrested and his attorneys say he was later sexually assaulted in a Texas jail.
The lawsuit says a representative from Macy’s informed Houston police the system had matched Murphy’s face with surveillance footage.
It linked him to both the Sunglass Hut robbery and another store.
“It is a day-to-day personal pain in your heart and your soul about what happened”
Murphy has now sued Macy’s, Sunglass Hut’s parent company EssilorLuxottica, and three people his attorneys say were involved in the case.
He seeks $10 million in damages and says the assault left him with “lifelong injuries.”
Murphy said in an interview with The Washington Post: “It is a day-to-day personal pain in your heart and your soul about what happened.”
He said he remained “terrified by the idea that it could happen again at any time.”
Macy’s declined to comment on the pending litigation.
It has previously stated it uses facial recognition in select stores with high incidents of theft.
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EssilorLuxottica, the parent company of Sunglass Hut, did not respond to requests for comment.
Scrutiny over facial recognition accuracy
Facial recognition technology has faced scrutiny for its inaccuracies.
The Federal Trade Commission recently cited Rite Aid for misusing its system, leading to false accusations of theft.
Retailers like Macy’s increasingly use facial recognition to combat theft, but its effectiveness depends on various technical factors.
It leads to potential dangers when mismatches occur.
Police departments claim to use facial matches as investigative leads.
But Murphy’s case suggests that authorities placed significant confidence in automated results, potentially biasing witnesses and investigators.
Harvey Murphy Jr. is the latest to report being wrongfully accused due to faulty facial recognition.
He joins others like joining others like Robert Williams and Porcha Woodruff.
Williams sued the Detroit police after being falsely charged.
Woodruff reported being held for 11 hours while eight months pregnant.
