Walmart Lawsuit Claims Retailer Illegally Collects Illinois Residents’ Biometric Voiceprints From Phone Calls

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Walmart faces a proposed class action lawsuit that claims the mega-retailer unlawfully collects, stores, and uses without consent the voiceprints of Illinois consumers who place a phone call to their local store.

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The 15-page lawsuit alleges that when a consumer calls a Walmart store, they have to go through an automated AI voice system that, unbeknownst to them, collects, stores, and uses their biometric voiceprint information, in violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).

The complaint relays that the BIPA was enacted by the Illinois legislature in 2008 to regulate companies’ use of sensitive biometric data. Per the filing, biometric information—such as voiceprints, fingerprints, palm prints, iris or retinal scans, and scans of facial geometry—is unique and cannot be changed once compromised, meaning there is a critical need for adequate privacy protections for such data.

According to the lawsuit, Walmart captures the voiceprints of people who call one of its stores, purportedly to reduce the risk of fraud. However, the suit alleges that Walmart does not adequately inform consumers that their voiceprints are being collected, have a written data retention policy explaining the purpose and length for which the biometric identifiers are stored, or obtain consent before collecting biometric information.

While Walmart discloses in its privacy policy that it collects biometric information, including voiceprints, the case says that this admission is “inadequate” for the purposes of providing notice or obtaining consumer consent. Indeed, the case claims that Walmart’s customers are forced to “unknowingly surrender” their biometric data to the retailer.

Furthermore, the filing says that Walmart does not disclose a retention and deletion schedule for voiceprints collected by its AI system, in “direct contravention” of BIPA requirements.

The lawsuit highlights the importance of protecting biometric information, noting that it can be used to create links between individuals and data records or payment methods. Moreover, biometric data can even be utilized by fraudsters to create false digital identities, the case states.

“In fact, many organizations, including banks, now allow users to gain access to their accounts over the phone through the use of their voiceprint – which exemplifies how valuable voiceprints are and the need to protect them from parties who collect them without consent,” the complaint emphasizes.

The Walmart class action lawsuit looks to cover all Illinois residents who had their biometric identifiers, including scans of their voiceprints, collected, captured, received, disseminated, or otherwise obtained by Walmart through the Walmart AI voice system. 

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