From TechRadar · · 1m 50s
Chicago sues robot delivery firms over biometric data
Two residents claim Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics scanned their faces and hands without permission while delivering food.
In brief
Two residents claim Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics scanned their faces and hands without permission while delivering food. Chicago residents sued Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics for allegedly collecting face and hand scans via camera and LiDAR without consent, potentially violating Illinois privacy law. Originally…
Two Chicago residents sue robot firms
Two men are taking Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics to court over alleged unauthorized collection of biometric data during food and grocery deliveries via DoorDash and Uber Eats.
Robots allegedly scanned faces and hands
The residents claim that when unlocking the robot cargo bay, their hands and faces were scanned via camera and LiDAR technology without explicit prior permission.
Alleged breach of Illinois privacy law
The class-action lawsuits claim the robots violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act of 2008 by retaining video and sensor data and sharing it with AI companies for training.
Damages sought per violation
The lawsuits seek statutory damages of one thousand dollars per negligent violation or five thousand dollars per intentional or reckless violation through the courts.
Coco Robotics denies allegations
Coco Robotics called the legal action frivolous and said the data it shares is navigational data used to make sidewalks safer, not biometric data.
“This lawsuit fundamentally misunderstands our technology, we have not collected biometric data in Chicago.”
Serve Robotics defends its practices
Serve Robotics said it does not use data to identify individuals or create biometric profiles, and that cameras and sensors are used only for safe sidewalk navigation.
“Serve does not use that data to identify individuals and our systems are not designed to identify individuals or create biometric profiles.”
Privacy policies reveal data sharing
Coco's 2022 privacy policy mentions sharing data with third parties and affiliates. Serve's updated policy explicitly mentions sharing data to train AI agents and models.
Growing scrutiny of surveillance tech
The lawsuits reflect rising complaints about surveillance technology, with social media users describing delivery robots as mobile data thieves and sidewalk surveillance.
What matters most
Chicago residents sued Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics for allegedly collecting face and hand scans via camera and LiDAR without consent, potentially violating Illinois privacy law.
