Lowe’s hit with class action over collection of consumers’ voiceprints

The suit comes one month after Illinois consumers filed a similar class action against Walmart.(CN) — An Illinois consumer claims in a class action that home improvement giant Lowe’s is secretly collecting callers’ voiceprints and sharing their biometric data without consent.Lead plaintiff Rosemarie Perkins, an Illinois resident, says Lowe’s is utilizing its heavily trafficked customer service lines to capture callers’ unique vocal characteristics with the intent to analyze and track customer interactions and transfer sensitive data to third-party tech vendors.In the 16-page suit, filed Thursday in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Perkins defines the proposed class to represent all Illinois residents who called Lowe’s customer service lines and had their voice-derived biometric information captured without notice.“Unbeknownst to plaintiff and other Illinois callers, Lowe’s records callers’ voices and, upon information and belief, subjects at least some calls to speaker-recognition or voice analysis processing that creates, collects, receives, or otherwise obtains voice prints derived from callers’ distinctive vocal characteristics,” Perkins says in the complaint.Lowe’s, a major home improvement retailer in the country, encourages consumers to use its telephone systems to resolve issues concerning products, services and accounts. During these interactions, consumers provide personal information and speak with a live customer service rep or automated voice system.While ordinary audio recording is a standard practice among customer service intended to improve overall quality, biometric technology analyzes characteristics of a speaker’s voice and translates it into a “mathematical representation” used to distinguish a specific speaker from others.“Unlike a password, account number, or security code, an individual cannot simply replace the biological and behavioral characteristics reflected in a voiceprint if the information is compromised,” Perkins says in the complaint.Lowe’s U.S. privacy statement — last updated in March — does not state that it collects or stores biometric information, though the company does note it deploys AI virtual assistant technology that analyzes and processes voice recordings.Perkins says Lowe’s use of this technology violates the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act — enacted in 2008 out of a need to protect Illinois citizens’ biometric data.The act prohibits a private entity from collecting, capturing, purchasing or receiving a person’s biometric information unless they inform the person and receive a written release or consent.Perkins, whose injury stems from a customer service call with Lowe’s in May, says she was never informed her voiceprints and other biometric data would be collected and was never asked to approve such collection.“Had plaintiff known that Lowe’s would subject her voice to biometric processing, retain voice derived biometric information or disclose that information to third parties, she would not have used Lowe’s telephone customer service line,” Perkins says in the complaint.The lead plaintiff also references a 2023 statement from the Federal Trade Commission outlining the scope and risks concerning the rapid adoption of biometric technologies.In the statement, the commission noted the rise of such technologies affects consumer privacy and data security, with key risks including unauthorized account access and false identifications — which it said disproportionately affects women, elderly individuals and racial minorities.Voice biometrics are explicitly defined by the commission as protected biometric information.The Lowe’s suit is not the first instance of Illinois’ consumers taking big corporations to court over biometric data. In August, a group of Walmart customers filed a similar class action against the retail corporation over collecting voiceprints.Likewise, a class of White Castle employees in Illinois sued the fast food chain in 2019 over biometric law violations stemming from required fingerprint scanning before and after work. An Illinois federal judge later awarded the employees a settlement over $9 million.The class is seeking statutory damages of $1,000 to $5,000 for each of Lowe’s violations of the Illinois law.Lowe’s did not respond to an initial request for comment.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads