A college student in New York is suing Apple for $1 billion after he says the company's facial recognition software led him to be falsely arrested and charged with stealing from Apple stores. Apple is disputing the claim about the use of the software.
Ousmane Bah, 18, was arrested at 4 a.m. at his home in November. In the lawsuit, Bah claims the arrest warrant included a photo of the suspect which did not look like him.
In one case, the lawsuit claims Bah received a court summons after someone stole over $1,200 in Apple pencils in Boston on May 31. Bah said he was at his senior prom in New York City that day. He also said he had never been to Boston prior to answering the court summons for his arraignment.
Bah reportedly said he lost his learner's permit, which did not have a photo. The lawsuit theorizes the thief may have used it as identification in the Apple stores, but states the description on the permit and that of the thief did not match. The suit specifically notes that the height listed on Bah's permit and the height of the suspect were noticeably different.
Bah's lawsuit claim his name may have been linked with the thief's face using Apple's facial recognition system. Bah claims the company uses it in its stores. Apple said on Tuesday it doesn’t use facial recognition in its stores, according to the Associated Press.
Bah said he was accused of crimes at Apple stores in Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Delaware. The suit states all the charges have been dismissed except the one in New Jersey.
"With the stress of knowing that Defendant was now wrongfully identifying him as a felon for committing serious crimes in multiple states, Mr. Bah’s life has been deeply and negatively affected. He advanced through his freshman year of college experiencing constant anxiety and fear that at any moment he would be arrested again for a crime he did not commit," the lawsuit reads.
Security Industry Specialists, Inc. is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
