Technology

Man beat in prison sues Macy’s for facial recognition-based incarceration

Image: iStock.

February 9, 2024

Fight for the Future, an organization campaigning against the use of facial recognition in stores, has cited a recent case against Macy's as an example of why facial recognition technology should not be used by retailers.

The organization claimed in an email that Macy's is one of the few retailers that acknowledged it has no plans to stop using the technology.

A 61-year-old man sued Macy's after he was sexually assaulted and beaten in a Texas jail bathroom after being booked on charges based in part on facial recognition footage, according to a report in The Washington Post.

Harvey Murphy Jr., 61, was booked on charges that he held up employees at gunpoint inside a Sunglass Hut in a Houston shopping center, according to a recently filed lawsuit.

A Macy's representative told police surveillance-camera footage showed Murphy had robbed two stores, leading to his arrest.

Murphy's attorneys said at the time of the robbery, Murphy was in a Sacramento jail on unrelated charges. All charges were dropped against him and he was released after his sexual assault.

Murphy sued Macy's, Sunglass Hut parent company EssilorLuxottica and three individuals involved in the case, seeking $10 million in damages, claiming the assault left him with "lifelong injuries."

The company said it uses "facial recognition in conjunction with other security methods in a small subset of Macy's stores with high incidences of organized retail theft and repeat offenders."

"Private companies that use facial recognition tech are seriously endangering customers, and this case further exemplifies what we already know: there is no way to safely use facial recognition — it must be banned," Fight for the Future said in a statement on the lawsuit.

Macy's was sued over facial recognition by an Illinois consumer in 2020.