Steak ‘n Shake face pay kiosks from PopID draw BIPA class action

Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) has another notch in its litigation belt, this time in the form of a class action against fast food chain Steak ‘n Shake. Illinois resident Michael Massel is behind the suit, which alleges that the burger joint illegally collects face biometrics at its ordering kiosks.

Steak n’ Shake’s biometric self-ordering kiosks are a relatively new addition to the company’s operations, introduced just this year. Biometric capabilities are provided by PopID in kiosks from ACRELEC, which have been installed at all 300-plus Steak ‘n Shake locations in the U.S.

The kiosks allow customers to “check in” and pay for their meals using facial recognition. The class action alleges that the practice contravenes BIPA by “unlawfully collecting, storing, and using customers’ facial geometry data without proper consent.”

Massel says Steak ‘n Shake failed to provide adequate notice and to obtain written consent to collect his biometric personal information. His suit notes the permanence of facial geometry and the consequent inability to replace it in the case of identity theft or a data breach.

In part because of this sensitivity, BIPA requires private entities to provide written information describing how biometrics are collected, what they’ll be used for, and for how long. Written consent to collect biometric data is also mandatory.

Massel’s action seeks to represent “anyone who had their biometric information collected by Steak ‘n Shake in Illinois at any point in the past five years.” He is asking for damages of up to $5,000 per violation, plus additional costs – meaning a settlement could be in the millions.

Is there a frequent litigators discount?

The plaintiff’s name may be familiar from a previous lawsuit under BIPA – or five. 

Massel has previously brought suit over alleged biometric data privacy violations, and been represented by Attorney Michael Fradin, against crypto trading platforms Zengo, CoinZoom and Coinbase, and dating apps Zoosk and Luxy. 

Customers might face pay at BK, but probably not at Burger Clown

A recent article in The Conversation gets into the psychology behind facial recognition payment technology (FRPT), or face payments.

“According to the basic psychological need theory, people have three basic needs when adopting a new technology: autonomy (a sense of mastery and control over the technology), competence (the sense of integrity, reliability and trust in the technology) and relatedness (a sense of belonging or familiarity with the technology),” reads the piece.

The authors, from institutions in Australia and New Zealand, conducted research with potential users to discover how these motivations play out in consumer adoption of face payments. “Shoppers’ autonomy and competence were satisfied if they had access to information, considered the technology convenient, trusted the retailer and were offered an incentive.”

Big familiar brands engendered trust in biometric data – a key point, in that shoppers proved less willing to trial and adopt facial recognition for payments to lesser-known parties. Other barriers include a perceived lack of assistance, and – contravening the conventional wisdom that customers always want digital payments to be as frictionless as possible – concerns about overspending.

The piece quotes one respondent, who says “FRPT could be bad because then I’ve got no way of saying ‘I don’t have money on me.’ Yeah, sadly facial recognition is always there.” While most respondents say they would try facial recognition for payment in a physical retail location first, online payments could become as easy as simply looking at an Amazon page.

(The piece notes that “an ‘alert limit’ – in the same way credit card providers limit ‘tap and go’ payment over a certain value – might help mitigate overspending risks.”)

The piece concludes that the security benefits of biometric payment schemes are worth the tradeoffs. But success and widespread adoption will only happen if communications about the biometric tools in use are clear, frequent and easy to see, in the form of signs or video notices.

Article Topics

biometric data  |  Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA)  |  biometric payments  |  data privacy  |  face biometrics  |  kiosk  |  lawsuits  |  PopID  |  retail biometrics