Natalia Chi
Amazon is facing lawsuits for failing to properly notify customers entering its New York City Amazon Go store that it was tracking and collecting biometric information.
Lawsuit alleges e-commerce giant violated New York City law It passes in early 2021 that businesses that collect, store or share “biometric identifier information” will post signs near their entrances warning customers that they are doing so. Did.
of lawsuit It was filed Thursday in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of shopper Alfredo Rodriguez Perez.
Leonardo Munoz/VIEWpress via Getty Images
Amazon Go store first opened In 2018, it will use what the company calls “Just Walk Out Technology.” Shoppers scan his mobile app and are tracked as they add items to their cart using “computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning” technology. To tell on that website.
No cashier and no need to check out. Instead, the shopper simply leaves the store, and his Amazon account is charged when he leaves.
“Just Walk Out Technology automatically detects when products are taken off and back on the shelf and tracks them in a virtual cart,” reads Amazon’s website.
The lawsuit alleges that Amazon Go “identifies customers by scanning the palms of some customers and applies computer vision, deep learning algorithms, and sensor fusion to measure each customer’s body shape and size to identify customers.” It claims to collect shopper biometric information by identifying and tracking where customers are as they navigate the store and determine what they have purchased.”
The lawsuit alleges that since New York City enacted the Notice Act in January 2021, Amazon Go stores have been forced to post “signs” informing shoppers that they are collecting such biometric information. I have failed,” he claims.
However, after March 10th, Story New York Times on Companies’ Use of Facial Recognition Technology — An Amazon Go store in New York City posted its first notice sign on March 14, the lawsuit alleges.
The sign reads, “Biometric information collected at this location,” the lawsuit said.
An Amazon spokesperson said in a statement provided to CBS News Saturday in response to the lawsuit that Amazon Go stores “do not use facial recognition technology.”
“Amazon One, our contactless, palm-based ID and payment service, is one of the entry options offered at select Amazon Go stores, along with credit cards and the Amazon app,” the statement read. Only shoppers who choose to register with Amazon One and choose to be identified by swiping their palms over their Amazon One device will have their palm biometric data securely collected, and these individuals will have access during the registration process. Appropriate privacy disclosures are provided to the customer.Furthermore, the Just Walk Out technology used to distinguish shoppers from each other is not biometrics, but is used to associate a customer with a purchase during a single store visit. is used only.”
