In 2021, a law went into effect in New York City that requires companies post eye-catching signs if they are collecting biometric information from customers, such as their facial scans and fingerprints. Now, Amazon is against a proposed class action lawsuit which accuses the company of failing to inform customers at its Go cashierless stores that it was collecting their biometric data.
In it lawsuit (PDF), submitted by Alfredo Alberto Rodríguez Pérez, the plaintiff argues that Go stores constantly use customers’ biometrics “by scanning [their palms] to identify them and by applying computer vision, deep learning algorithms, and sensor fusion that measure each customer’s body shape and size to identify customers, track where they move in stores, and determine what they’ve purchased. it only posted signs about its biometric tracking activities more than a year after the law went into effect.
Amazon Go stores give shoppers the option to pull whatever they have off the shelves and check out without needing to check out. In order to enter these stores, customers will need to scan a code from the Amazon app with a connected credit card. However, some locations offer Amazon One, the e-commerce giant’s palm-based identity and payment service, as an input option. The plaintiff’s complaint says the sign informs customers that Amazon will not collect their biometric data unless they choose to sign up for Amazon One. However, “Amazon Go stores do collect biometric identification information from each customer, including information about each customer’s body size and shape,” the complaint argues.
In a statement sent to nbc news, an Amazon spokesperson defended the company’s practices and technologies. They explained that Amazon does not use facial recognition and that any system it uses to identify shoppers inside its Go stores does not constitute biometric technology. “Only shoppers who choose to enroll in Amazon One and choose to be identified by palm swipe over the Amazon One device have their palm biometric data collected securely,” they insisted, “and these individuals receive the disclosures from adequate privacy during enrollment”. process.”
The outcome of the lawsuit could then depend on whether the court considers someone’s body shape and size as biometric information. In the complaint, the plaintiff cites New York City Administration Code 22-1201 definition of a biometric identifier in the context of the law as “a physiological or biological characteristic that is used by or on behalf of a commercial establishment, alone or in combination, to identify or assist in the identification of an individual, including, without limitation, to: (i) a retinal or iris scan, (ii) a fingerprint or voice print, (iii) a hand or facial geometry scan, or any other identifying characteristic.”
