Papa John’s class action lawsuit accuses company of biometric privacy violations

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Papa John’s biometric privacy class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Nicholas Pope filed a class action lawsuit against Papa John’s International and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp.
• Why: Pope claims Papa John’s unlawfully collects the voiceprints and other biometric data of customers who place an order using its PapaCall AI-powered automated ordering system 
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. 

Papa John’s International unlawfully collected, stored and used the biometric identifiers of customers who placed an order using its “PapaCall” artificial intelligence-assisted voice-ordering system, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiff Nicholas Pope claims Papa John’s unlawfully used PapaCall to collect, store, use and possess customers’ voiceprints and other biometric information in order to improve the automated ordering service. 

Pope argues Papa John’s failed, however, to follow regulations set forth by the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) that state what must be done when collecting and storing biometric information. 

“Defendants never adequately informed Plaintiff and other customers who have interacted with the PapaCall that PapaCall collects, stores, and/or uses their voiceprints and biometric information,” the Papa John’s class action says. 

Pope wants to represent an Illinois class of consumers who had their voiceprint or other biometric information collected by Papa John’s while placing an order using its PapaCall automated service.

Papa John’s accused of failing to obtain written consent before collecting biometric data

Papa John’s further violates BIPA by not obtaining written consent before collecting the biometric data and not adequately informing its customers how long their biometric info would be retained and for what specific purpose, the Papa John’s class action alleges. 

Pope — who argues consumers can suffer privacy violations if their biometric data falls into the wrong hands — claims Papa John’s also fails to provide any “data retention or destruction policies to Plaintiff and other customers whose biometric data Defendants possessed.” 

“Voiceprints and related biometric information may be used to glean copious amounts of sensitive information about those who are subject to their collection,” the Papa John’s class action says. 

Pope is demanding a jury trial and requesting declaratory and injunctive relief, along with an award of statutory damages for himself and all class members. 

A similar class action lawsuit was filed last month against Walmart by a consumer arguing the company collects and uses the biometric data of its customers without first obtaining their consent. 

Have you had your biometric data collected unlawfully? Let us know in the comments. 

The plaintiff is represented by Carl V. Malmstrom of Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP and Joseph I. Marchese and Max S. Roberts of Bursor & Fisher PA.

The Papa John’s biometric privacy class action lawsuit is Pope, et al. v. Papa John’s International Inc., et al., Case No. 1:22-cv-05508, in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. 

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