Wingstop Collects Illinois Callers’ Voiceprints Without Consent, Class Action Says

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Wingstop faces a proposed class action lawsuit that claims the restaurant chain has illegally captured, used and profited from the voiceprints of Illinois customers who call to place an order by phone.

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According to the 22-page lawsuit, at least 60 Wingstop locations in Illinois use voice technology powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to handle phone orders. However, the suit alleges that the company, in violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), has captured and used thousands of customers’ unique voiceprints without their knowledge or consent through the use of the AI virtual assistant.

Per the case, the BIPA prohibits companies from obtaining a consumer’s biometric data—including their voiceprint—without first acquiring informed written consent and establishing publicly available policies that outline how long the information will be retained and when it will be destroyed. The law also precludes businesses from profiting from an individual’s BIPA-protected data in any capacity, the complaint relays.

Despite the BIPA’s requirements, Wingstop and co-defendant ConverseNow Technologies—which developed the voice AI technology—failed to obtain written releases from callers and publish the requisite data retention policies before deploying the virtual assistant, the filing contends.

In addition, the suit claims the companies have unlawfully profited from consumers’ biometric information, as each caller’s captured voiceprint is used to sharpen the technology’s accuracy, collect customer-specific data, encourage reordering and facilitate upselling.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone whose voiceprints, biometric identifiers and/or biometric information was captured, obtained, used and/or stored by Wingstop and ConverseNow Technologies when making a telephone order at a Wingstop location in Illinois at any time during the applicable statute of limitations period.

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