Voiceprint Collection Without Consent? Domino's Faces Lawsuit Over AI Tech

Domino’s is taking more than just pizza orders when customers interact with its virtual ordering assistant, according to a new proposed class action lawsuit. 

Pizza eaters Odilon Garcia, Jonathan Neumann and Zachery Young filed the lawsuit against Domino’s Pizza Inc. and ConverseNow Technologies Inc. on March 13 in an Illinois federal court, alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).

The plaintiffs say Domino’s uses ConverseNow virtual ordering assistants, powered by artificial intelligence, are collecting people’s personal voiceprints when they call in to order their pies. They allege this practice, done without consent, is a violation of Illinois privacy law. 

They’re looking to represent anyone in Illinois who had their voiceprints collected or used by Domino’s while making a telephone order to the pizza chain. 

What is the Biometric Information Privacy Act?

BIPA is a law enacted in Illinois in 2008, aimed at regulating the collection, storage, and use of biometric information. 

Biometric information includes identifiers such as fingerprints, voiceprints, retina or iris scans, and facial geometry scans. 

BIPA imposes certain requirements on private companies that collect, store, and use biometric data –  including obtaining consent from individuals before collecting their biometric information and establishing data retention and destruction policies.

What do the plaintiffs say Domino’s did wrong?

The plaintiffs say Domino’s has been violating the law since at least 2020 by collecting, and storing the “highly sensitive” voiceprints of thousands of people in Illinois.

They say the pizza company did this without customers’ knowledge or consent, through the use of AI-assisted voice technology for Domino’s customers’ telephone orders developed by ConverseNow.  

They say, while the AI was marketed to customers as a virtual assistant that would learn from user interactions, it was actually using their voices without their consent “to gather customer-specific data and/or identify specific customers; and to facilitate reordering and upselling.” 

Customers given no notice of use of voiceprint, lawsuit says

Garcia says that over the course of the past five years, he has called his local Domino’s in Chicago dozens of times from his cell phone to place a pickup order for food. 

During the calls, Garcia says he interacted with a voice AI assistant who took his order and collected certain personal information from him – specifically, his name and debit or credit card number for payment.   

“At no time before or during the calls was Mr. Garcia ever informed (much less in writing), that his biometric identifiers or biometric information was being collected, captured, used, and/or stored by Defendants,” the lawsuit states.

The plaintiffs are seeking certification of the class action and damages of up to $5,000 per customer, per BIPA violation. 

The plaintiffs and proposed class are represented by J. Ryan Lopatka, Kim E. Miller, Lewis S. Kahn and Melissa H. Harris of Kahn Swick & Foti LLC and Don Bivens and Teresita Mercado of  Don Bivens PLLC.

The Dominos BIPA Class Action is Garcia et al v. Domino’s Pizza Inc. and Conversenow Technologies Inc, Case No. 1:24-cv-02090, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.