Amazon Web Services Hit with Class Action Over Alleged Collection of Turing Shield Users’ Facial Scans

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A proposed class action claims Amazon Web Services (AWS) has unlawfully collected and shared biometric data captured by the Turing Shield, a kiosk used to screen workers for COVID-19 protocol compliance.

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The 27-page case was filed by a former Jewel-Osco employee in Illinois who says she was required to have her facial geometry scanned by a Turing Shield before she could begin her shift. The lawsuit explains that during this procedure, the kiosk’s built-in thermal sensor collects the user’s forehead temperature, and its facial recognition software checks if they are wearing a mask. 

The Turing Shield then stores a worker’s facial scan in a database hosted by AWS, the Amazon subsidiary that provides artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing services, and the device then analyzes the biometric data to determine if the user has passed the COVID-19 screening protocol, the complaint relays. However, unbeknownst to Turing users, AWS keeps this biometric data and uses it to enhance Amazon’s AI technologies, the filing alleges.

The lawsuit claims that AWS’s failure to inform Turing users that it maintains their facial geometry data violates the basic consent requirements of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). Under the BIPA, companies are prohibited from obtaining or storing the biometric data of Illinois consumers unless they receive a prior written release, the filing explains. 

By law, companies must also inform consumers in writing of the “specific purpose and length of term for which such biometric identifiers or information are being collected, stored, and used,” as well as maintain a publicly available, written retention schedule and guidelines for permanently destroying biometric data, the case explains. Per the suit, AWS failed to comply with these BIPA policies.

Moreover, the complaint charges that AWS failed to obtain consent from consumers before disclosing their biometric data to third parties and other Amazon entities. According to the case, AWS uses biometric information collected by the Turing Shield and other Turing AI devices to hone its affiliated machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies, including Amazon’s image-recognition platform Rekognition. The lawsuit stresses that these improvements, made at the expense of non-consenting Turing users, help Amazon sell its products to businesses, law enforcement agencies and other third parties.

The complaint adds that AWS’s alleged data collection exposes Turing users to “serious and irreversible privacy risks.”

The lawsuit seeks to cover anyone who used a Turing biometric device in Illinois and had their facial geometry collected, captured, received, obtained, maintained, stored, used and/or disclosed by Amazon Web Services during the applicable statute of limitations period.

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