So a New York City teenager files lawsuit against Apple. At the heart of this fight is Apple’s facial recognition. The young man is sewing for $1 billion.
So the young man’s name is Ousmane Bah, and he is 18. His lawsuit says Apple’s facial recognition made him a target of false accusations. The suit also says that last year, a Boston court summoned him on theft charges. The summons claimed he stole over $1,200 worth of Apple products. But wait…there’s more. Because it goes on to allege Bah stole products in New Jersey and Delaware. Obviously, Bah vehemently denies these claims.
In fact, Bah said he was at senior prom when one of the thefts took place (think of all the witnesses that can vouch for him). However, Bah explains that he lost his ID. Then, the real culprits pretended to be him, using facial recognition tech. Bah thinks that Apple’s software security blindly accepted the culprit’s fraud. Therefore, the facial IT support thought it was Bah’s face, and not the real suspect’s. That’s how they falsely accused Bah of theft. The college freshman’s lawsuit said this ordeal deeply affected him. Furthermore, these accusations caused him a lot of stress and hardship. So far, no word from Apple about this.
First and foremost, I am not here to take sides. These are all allegations, so far. I don’t know who is right or wrong. But there is a lesson we can learn here. As bad as this sounds, no piece of IT service is 110% secure. Anything can happen. So just because we spend lots of money of extra security doesn’t always mean we’re going to be 100% safe. Look at this New York City teenager and his lawsuit. Yes, we should take all the safety and security measures we can. But we should also be aware that anything can happen at anytime, regardless. Who do you think will win this lawsuit?