Jimmy John’s Collects Drive-Through Customers’ Voiceprints Without Consent, Class Action Says

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A proposed class action claims Jimmy John’s unlawfully collects, stores and uses drive-through customers’ voiceprints without first providing requisite disclosures or obtaining consent.

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The 16-page case alleges the sandwich chain has failed to comply with several provisions of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), a state law designed to protect residents’ control of their biometric data—including their voiceprints, finger or handprints, iris scans and facial geometry.

According to the lawsuit, Jimmy John’s secretly uses technology at certain drive-through locations to record customers’ voices as they order food. The technology then extracts an individual’s voiceprint biometrics “to determine unique features of [their] voice such as pitch, volume and duration” so the company can “provide future targeted up-selling and increases in drive-through operation efficiency,” the complaint says.

Per the filing, digital copies of customers’ voiceprints are “indefinitely” stored by the defendant in an electronic database.

The suit alleges that, in violation of the BIPA’s consent requirements, Jimmy John’s has implemented its voice recognition technology at several drive-through locations throughout the country without informing customers that their voiceprints are being collected or obtaining their permission to do so.

Jimmy John’s also failed to provide consumers with a written disclosure outlining why and for how long it would collect, store and use the biometric data—another requirement under the BIPA, the case says. Finally, the defendant has failed to publish a publicly available retention schedule disclosing when the stored biometric information will be permanently destroyed, the lawsuit contends.

“If [the defendant’s] database of digitized voiceprints were to fall into the wrong hands, by data breach or otherwise, individuals to whom these sensitive biometric identifiers belong could have their identities stolen or their financial and other highly personal information breached and used for nefarious purposes,” the complaint reads.

The lawsuit seeks to represent anyone who had their voiceprints collected, captured, received or otherwise obtained, and/or stored by Jimmy John’s, LLC.

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