A class action lawsuit has accused fast food chain Wingstop of allowing a virtual ordering assistant to improperly record customer voices during phone orders, allegedly violating Illinois' biometrics privacy law.
The lawsuit was filed March 20 in Chicago federal court against Wingstop and tech vendor ConverseNow Technologies Inc., alleging violations of the Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).
Named plaintiff, Myankhai Batchuluun, of Arlington Heights, claims that the companies improperly recorded customer voices during phone orders without their knowledge or consent.
Batchuluun argues that the companies have been using artificial intelligence-assisted voice technology to collect unique "voiceprints" of thousands of individuals in Illinois.
The lawsuit further alleges that Wingstop and ConverseNow do not have publicly available retention or destruction schedules relating to biometric identifiers or information, potentially retaining this data beyond the time limits set by BIPA.
The lawsuit is one of thousands filed in Illinois and elsewhere under the stringent BIPA law.
The lawsuit could potentially carry a massive price tag.
The law permits plaintiffs to demand damages of $1,000-$5,000 per violation. The Illinois Supreme Court has interpreted the BIPA law to define individual violations as each time a user's biometrics are scanned over a period of five years.
The plaintiffs believe the lawsuit could include "many thousands" of additional plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys J. Ryan Lopatka, Kim E. Miller, Lewis S. Kahn and Melissa H. Harris, of Kahn Swick & Fioti, of Chicago, New York and New Orleans; and Don Bivens and Teresita Mercado, of Don Bivens PLLC, of Scottsdale, Arizona.