After Being Sued By Teen, Apple Claims It Isn’t Using Facial Recognition Software

Yesterday, we reported that an 18-year-old guy sued Apple for $1 billion for using facial recognition software, leading to him being wrongly arrested for theft. And while Apple claims no facial recognition technology is installed in its store. But it remains unclear whether what the company says is the whole truth.

Ousmane Bah, the teen in the case, claims that he was identified as the culprit in many thefts happened in Apple Store across several states. But Bah denies this accusation. With proof from surveillance footage and a detective’s testimony, the charges against him have been dropped.

The lawsuit stated that John Reinhold, an NYPD detective took notice that the accused teen “looked nothing like” the one in Apple’s surveillance video from a Manhattan store. It was Reinhold who explained that the security system of Apple deploys facial recognition technology for suspects of theft identification.

The Verge reported that when it contacted Reinhold via phone call for more details, he agreed that no facial recognition is technically installed in Apple’s stores, but he also said that what he described in the lawsuit was correct. He refused to answer more questions. However, the contradiction might be explained by the lawsuit’s second defendant, Security Industry Specialists. It’s possible that after the theft, the company used facial recognition tech outside Apple’s facilities for security footage analyzing.

SIS Security does not disclose explicitly that Apple is one of its clients, but the company seems to be still maintaining its working relationship with the Cupertino giant.

In the lawsuit, Bah is said to have been presented along with a police report claiming he was caught by an SIS prevention employee for stealing Apple Pencils. While Apple initially denied having surveillance video, it eventually provided the footage.

Bah says that it couldn’t have been possible for him to steal Apple’s products since he had been in Manhattan for his senior prom at that time. But he speculates that the real suspect could have got his information from a permit without photo he had lost.

To justify the $1 billion claims, the lawsuit states that Apple, as well as SIS, with their wrongful actions, caused harm to Bah.