Claims That McDonald’s Illegally Stores Customer Voices at Drive-Thru Split in Class Action Ruling

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McDonald’s Drive-Thru Class Action Lawsuit Overview:

• Who: A judge sent a class action lawsuit lodged against McDonald’s to federal and state court.  
• Why: Claims that the fast-food chain took customers’ voiceprints without permission will be sent to both federal and state courts, splitting the class action lawsuit.
• Where: The lawsuit seeks to represent a Class of McDonald’s customers in Illinois.

Claims that a new McDonald’s drive-thru voice assistant uses artificial intelligence to collect customers’ voices while they order their meals, and without their consent will be heard in state and federal courts under a ruling dividing a class action lawsuit. 

In an order filed Nov. 1, an Illinois federal court judge gave lead plaintiff Sharon Carpenter permission to have some of her claims against McDonald’s heard in state court, and others heard in federal court.

The class action lawsuit, filed in April, alleges that ,sometime in 2020, the fast food giant implemented an artificial intelligence voice assistant in the drive-thru of various McDonald’s restaurants across the nation. 

Carpenter alleges that McDonald’s drive-thru voice recognition technology collects customers’ voiceprints so that it can interpret customer orders and identify repeat customers to quickly pull up a previous order.

However, she says McDonald’s violates the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) through this practice. 

McDonald’s Drive-Thru Technology Violates Illinois Residents’ Privacy Rights, Claims Class Action

Passed in 2018, the law requires biometric data to be used in compliance with certain rules, including getting consent, publishing policies on how the data is stored and schedules of when the data will be destroyed.

Carpenter alleges that McDonald’s does not notify its customers that when they interact with McDonald’s voice assistant, their voiceprint biometric information is used and collected.

Carpenter alleges that, not only does McDonald’s collect the voiceprints, it also captures customer license plates and partners them with the voiceprints in order to identify customers and their orders at whichever McDonald’s they visit. She says this is a violation of privacy. 

Carpenter is looking to represent anyone in Illinois who used McDonald’s drive-thru to order and 

whose voiceprint was collected and stored without their consent.

For its part, McDonald’s has called the class action lawsuit’s claims that it collects and uses customers’ biometric data are untrue and unfounded.

On Nov. 1, an Illinois federal court judge ruled that half of her biometric privacy lawsuit should be remanded to state court. Meanwhile, Carpenter’s unlawful collecting and sharing claims are still facing a motion for dismissal filed in federal court by McDonald’s in June. 

Do you feel comfortable with McDonald’s collecting the sound of your voice? Let us know in the comments! 

The lead plaintiff is represented by Eugene Y. Turin, Timothy P. Kingsbury, Colin P. Buscarini and Andrew T. Heldut of McGuire Law PC.

The McDonald’s Drive-Thru BIPA Class Action Lawsuit is Carpenter v. McDonald’s Corp., Case No. 1:21-cv-02906, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. 

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