The lawsuit alleges that Amazon Go stores in New York did not properly warn customers that they were being tracked biometrically.

Amazon is facing legal action alleging that the company did not properly notify customers entering its Amazon Go stores in New York that it was tracking and collecting their biometric information.

The lawsuit alleges that the e-commerce giant violated a New York City law passed in early 2021 that requires businesses that collect, store or share “biometric ID information” to post signs near their entrances warning customers to do so.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of buyer Alfredo Rodriguez Perez.

Amazon Go stores that first discovered in 2018, use what the company calls its “Just Walk Out technology.” Shoppers scan a mobile app and are then tracked using “computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning” technologies as they place items in their carts, the company’s website says.

There are no cashiers, and cash desks are not needed. Instead, shoppers simply exit the store, and their Amazon accounts are charged when they exit.

“Just Walk Out technology automatically detects when products are taken from or returned to shelves and tracks them in a virtual shopping cart,” Amazon’s website says.

The lawsuit alleges that Amazon Go collects biometric information about shoppers by “scanning the palms of some customers to identify them, and applying computer vision, deep learning algorithms, and sensor fusion that measure each shopper’s body shape and size to identify customers, track, Where are they located”. they go shopping and determine what they have bought.”

The lawsuit alleges that since New York City began enacting the notification law in January 2021, Amazon Go stores “have not posted any sign” to notify shoppers of the collection of such biometric information.

However, after a March 10 article in the New York Times about the use of facial recognition technology by businesses, Amazon Go stores in New York posted their first notices on March 14, the lawsuit says.

The inscriptions read: “Biometric information collected in this place,” the suit says.

In a statement provided to CBS News on Saturday in response to the lawsuit, an Amazon spokesman said Amazon Go stores “do not use facial recognition technology.”

“Amazon One, our palm-based contactless identification and payment service, is one of the sign-in options offered at select Amazon Go stores along with a credit card and the Amazon app,” the statement said. “Only shoppers who choose to register with Amazon One and choose to be identified by pointing their palm to an Amazon One device receive secure collection of their palm biometrics and are provided with appropriate privacy information during the registration process. The shopper is always in control when they want to be identified with the palm of their hand. In addition, the Just Walk Out technology used to distinguish shoppers from each other is not biometric and is only used to link the shopper to their purchases during a single store visit.”