At the Mall of America in Minnesota, visitors are now required to give their consent for their faces to be scanned by security cameras as they enter the premises. The mall assures that they do not retain any records or information on individuals who are not persons of interest. Officials explain that the technology is being used to identify people of interest and has a database to match faces against. Upon a match, three layers of human verification are performed before any action is taken.
The purpose of using facial recognition at the Mall of America is to identify individuals who are considered persons of interest, such as those on the current trespass list, potential threats to the environment, individuals identified by law enforcement, or people who are missing or in danger. Despite its imperfections, facial recognition technology has shown some success in identifying these individuals, with a reported miss rate of 4.7 for every 1,000 people scanned.
However, there are concerns about privacy and accuracy when it comes to facial recognition technology. The chances of being wrongly identified by the technology are reported to be 1 in a million, with an estimated 40 false positives each year based on the mall’s annual visitation numbers. Nevertheless, many people believe that it is better safe than sorry and would rather have their faces scanned than risk being mistaken for someone else or being targeted by thieves or other criminals.
For more information on the security practices at the Mall of America and how they use facial recognition technology, visitors can visit the mall’s website or speak with one of their representatives directly. In addition to this study on facial recognition at the Mall of America, YouGov also conducted a survey on popular dining brands across the United States. Meanwhile Stacker compiled a list of top 50 dining options for readers to explore if they’re looking for new favorite restaurants while shopping at Mall Of America
