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I'm not denying that tech can be manipulated to reflect and perpetuate racism, but I don't think that's what this is - at least not on Kroger's part.
That is not an "infrared" scanner, it's an RF detector that detects presence of RF tags in/on products...
That is not an "infrared" scanner, it's an RF detector that detects presence of RF tags in/on products...
These are RF tags - the things they used to embed in CD price tags, etc.
They're little antennae that trigger the sensor to sound the alarm when you walk past.
They're little antennae that trigger the sensor to sound the alarm when you walk past.
They're also being embedded in clothing from some retailers, both for loss prevention and inventory tracking, among other legitimate (and likely illegitimate) uses.
engadget.com/2017/08/22/rfi…
engadget.com/2017/08/22/rfi…
So my guess: the Kroger sensor is set to trigger at the presence of ANY RF tag; white dude's clothes look well-lived-in, and probably don't have any tags.
Black dude's clothes look much newer; I don't recognize the brands, but I'd bet there's a rogue RF tag on his new clothing.
Black dude's clothes look much newer; I don't recognize the brands, but I'd bet there's a rogue RF tag on his new clothing.
Of course, one could argue that this reflects racism, in that clothing retailers targeting urban/black/etc customers might be more likely to embed tags in their clothing, and wide sweeping RF sensors in general retail establishments use that to target minorities...
but I don't know anything about those statistics, so I can't say for certain.
But I'd guess that a grocery store has products with multiple freq. RF tags from multiple distributors, and set their sensors for multiple freq to save on manually retagging products.
But I'd guess that a grocery store has products with multiple freq. RF tags from multiple distributors, and set their sensors for multiple freq to save on manually retagging products.
But what this is most definitely NOT is infrared scanners differentially detecting people with different skin color - a) it's not a IR sensor, b) I'm not aware of skin color affecting skin temperature, in any case.
Were it photo/video surveillance + analytics, yeah - there's a whole slew of problems with detecting features when there is less contrast between points - especially if your whole company is white people and you don't think to test against people of darker skin tones...
but, again, I don't think that's what's going on here.
So, if you find yourself triggering sensors, check your pockets and your labels for embedded RF tags, or ask the store security people why you're triggering it...
So, if you find yourself triggering sensors, check your pockets and your labels for embedded RF tags, or ask the store security people why you're triggering it...
But please, try to only drop your rightful outrage in those cases in which tech actually is being used to discriminate, of which there are many... I don't want to see anyone able to use that whole "crying wolf" thing to dilute and minimize the very real issues that exist.
