In New York City, businesses must display obvious indications if they are collecting consumers’ biometric data, such as their fingerprints and facial scans. This regulation went into effect in 2021. Amazon is now dealing with a proposed class-action lawsuit that claims the retailer failed to disclose to customers that it was collecting their biometrics at its Go cashierless locations.
Alfredo Alberto Rodriguez Perez filed the lawsuit (PDF), in which the plaintiff claims that Go stores routinely use customers’ biometrics “by scanning [their] palms to identify them and by applying computer vision, deep learning algorithms, and sensor fusion that measure the shape and size of each customer’s body to identify customers, track where they move in the stores, and determine what they have purchased.”
Customers have the opportunity to take everything they need off the shelf and leave Amazon’s Go stores without having to check out. Customers will need to scan a code from the Amazon app with a connected credit card in order to enter these stores. However, certain places allow entrance using Amazon One, the palm-based authentication and payment service provided by the online retailer. According to the plaintiff’s complaint, the sign advises users that unless they opt to join up for Amazon One, Amazon will not gather their biometric data. Nevertheless, the complaint asserts that “Amazon Go stores do collect biometric identifier information on every single customer, including information on the size and shape of every customer’s body.”
An Amazon spokeswoman defended the business’ methods and tools in a statement given to NBC News. They clarified that Amazon does not utilise face recognition technology and that any method used to identify customers inside of its Go locations does not fall within the category of biometric technology. They insisted: “Only customers who choose to enrol in Amazon One and choose to be identified by hovering their hand over the Amazon One device have their palm-biometric data securely captured, and these people are given the proper privacy disclosures during the registration process.
