Kohl’s Collected Illinois Shoppers’ Facial Scans Without Consent, Class Action Alleges

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims Kohl’s has violated an Illinois privacy law by collecting, storing and using images of shoppers’ faces without their knowledge or consent.

The 23-page case alleges Kohl’s stores contain cameras and “advanced video surveillance systems” through which the retailer collects scans of shoppers’ faces and uploads them to a massive biometric database for “security and other purposes.” Per the suit, the information gleaned from Kohl’s security footage constitutes biometric data—a category of personal information that includes retinal or iris scans, fingerprints, voiceprints and scans of hand or facial geometry.

The lawsuit relays that the collection and use of such data is regulated in Illinois by the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), which stipulates that companies who deal in biometric information must first provide certain disclosures about how the information will be used and for how long, and obtain an individual’s consent to collect and use the data.

Per the suit, consumers who visit Kohl’s stores in Illinois are unaware that the retailer uses security cameras and surveillance technology to “surreptitiously collect, possess, or otherwise obtain” scans of their facial geometry. According to the complaint, images from Kohl’s cameras are uploaded to a biometric database provided by non-party Clearview AI and matched against billions of facial images for identification purposes.

According to the complaint, Kohl’s has violated the BIPA by collecting and using scans of shoppers’ faces without first informing them in writing that their biometric data is being collected and of the purpose and length of time for which the data will be used. Moreover, the retailer fails to obtain a written release from shoppers to use their biometric information, as required by the BIPA, the suit says.

Finally, the lawsuit claims Kohl’s has failed to publish a publicly available retention schedule and guidelines for the permanent destruction of shoppers’ biometric data, another BIPA requirement.

“BIPA confers on Plaintiff and all other similarly situated Illinois residents a right to know about the inherent risks of Biometric Data storage, collection, and use, and a right to know how long such risks will persist,” the complaint states.

The plaintiff, an Illinois resident who has shopped at Kohl’s stores on various occasions within the past three years, says he filed the lawsuit in order to prevent the defendant “from further violating the privacy rights of Illinois citizens,” and to recover statutory damages for the unauthorized use of their biometric data.

The plaintiff seeks to represent anyone who, while residing in Illinois, had their biometric data collected, captured, received, obtained, stored, sold, leased, traded, disclosed, redisclosed, disseminated or otherwise profited from or used by Kohl’s without their consent.

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