FTC Orders ‘Gun Detection’ Tech Maker Evolve To Stop Overstating The Effectiveness Of Its Touted Metal Detector

from same-old-things-only-more-expensive dept

Evolv may be new to the game but it has already made a name for itself. And not good.

It’s a key part of New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ ongoing run of public failures. The mayor announced that Evolv will be deploying his “gun detection” tech in the city’s subways, despite Evolv CEO Peter George’s public admission (during an investor call) that the technology doesn’t work well in subways.

“The subways, in particular, are not an area that we think is a good use for us,” George said, because of the “interference with the tracks.”

Perhaps he meant interference from the rails, but the end result of Test run by Evolv can probably be described as “interference with the rails” as precisely.

A test of the pilot program AI powered weapon scanners inside some New York City subway stations this summer didn’t notice any passengers with weapons — but falsely reported more than 100 timesaccording to newly released police data.

Through nearly 3,000 searches, the scanners found more than 118 false positives as well as 12 knives, police said, although they declined to say whether the positive hits referred to illegal blades or tools, such as pocket knives, that are allowed to travel. system.

On the one hand, CEO Peter George was certainly not selling the effectiveness of the technology when he expressed his reluctance to deploy it in the city’s subways. On the other hand, it appears that Evolv’s sales force exaggerated the effectiveness of the technology in general, the Federal Trade Commission was forced to step in. Here’s more from Matthew Guariglia and Cooper Quintin of the EFF:

The Federal Trade Commission entered a SETTLEMENT with self-styled “weapon detection” company Evolv, to settle FTC claims that the company “knowingly” and repeatedly “committed “unlawful” acts to make misleading claims about their technology. In fact, Evolv’s technology, which is in schools, subways, and stadiums, is much smaller than they claim.

The FTC filed its complaint that despite the tall claims made by Evolv, the technology is fundamentally no different from a metal detector: “The company insists publicly and repeatedly that Express is a ‘weapons detection’ system and not a you ‘metal detector.’ This representation is just a variation of marketing, at that The only objects detected by Express scanners are metal and their alarms can be set off by metal objects that are not weapons..”

Evolv sells metal detectors with some unproven AI stapled to them. Since there is AI involved, the company has no qualms about selling its metal detectors at up to five times the rate of regular, non-AI-tainted metal detectors. When customers balk at the markup, that’s where salespeople step in, apparently, overstating the accuracy of Evolv’s technology and its supposed effectiveness in reducing violent crime by identifying weapons.

Here is what is SETTLEMENT (PDF) prevents Evolv from making representations regarding marketing materials, advertising, or anything connected with the offering of its products to potential customers:

A. the ability to identify weapons;
B. the ability to ignore harmless personal items;
C. the ability to identify weapons while ignoring harmless personal items;
D. the ability to ignore harmless personal items without requiring guests to remove any items from pockets or bags;
E. weapon detection accuracy, including comparing the use of metal detectors;
F. false alarm rates, including comparisons with the use of metal detectors;
G. the speed of screening visitors, compared to the use of metal detectors;
H. labor costs, including comparing the use of metal detectors;
I. test, or the results of any test; or
J. any material aspect of its performance, efficiency, nature, or central characteristics, including, but not limited to, the use of algorithms, artificial intelligence, or other automated systems or tools

wow That’s all the company can say about its products, which means it can only provide customers with the make/model numbers and the price of the offerings. There is no “pitch” left, which means the company is definitely working to get this settlement changed significantly or overturned on appeal.

It also ordered the company to notify all customers of the educational facility that they can cancel their contracts immediately and only pay what is owed until the contract is canceled.

The only upside for Evolv is that this settlement only applies to its Evolv Express product and only to its marketing to customers in the education sector. The time is still open elsewhere, but this settlement covers the admissions of the company that misled these particular customers, which should make other potential customers in other places (hospitals, subways, etc.) who are very cautious in trusting the effectiveness of Evolv.

Filed Under: ftc, gun detection technology, nyc, SETTLEMENT

Companies: EXPANDS