Suzanne Mallouk, Alfredo Rodriguez Perez and Arjun Dhawan;

-against-

Amazon.com Inc and Starbucks Corporation

Status: Filed June 7, 2023

Key issues: Corporate Misconduct, Biometric Surveillance

Court: US District Court for the Western District of Washington

Docket: 2:2023cv00852

Counsel: S.T.O.P. / Peter Romer-Friedman Law PLLC / Pollock Cohen LLP / Bursor & Fisher, P.A.

S.T.O.P. and our co-counsel filed a proposed class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington claiming Starbucks and Amazon illegally failed to notify customers that their stores in New York City used Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” technology to collect biometric data on customers. The class action also claims that Starbucks illegally shared those customers’ biometric data with Amazon. Two Starbucks stores in Manhattan use the “Just Walk Out” technology to track each customer’s movements and purchases in the store’s lounge and marketplace, and all Amazon Go stores use the technology. The current case was originally filed in the Southern District of New York under two separate suits. The first was on behalf of Brooklyn resident Alfredo Rodriguez Perez and a proposed class of tens of thousands of Amazon Go customers, alleging that from January 2022 to March 13, 2023 Amazon failed to post any sign stating that Amazon Go stores collect biometric data, including for over a month after Mr. Perez told Amazon it violated New York City law by failing to do so.

The second was on behalf of Sullivan County resident Suzanne Mallouk and a proposed class of tens of thousands of Starbucks customers, alleging that from January 2022 to March 13, 2023, Starbucks failed to post any sign stating that its stores with “Just Walk Out” technology collect or share biometric data. On March 13, 2023, Amazon and Starbucks stores using the technology allegedly took the additional step of posting signs that state they only collects biometric data from customers who opt into the optional palm scanner program. However, as the lawsuit alleges, Starbucks and Amazon collect biometric data on even those customers who refuse to use the palm scanner, namely information on the shape and size of a customer’s body.