SUZANNE MALLOUK, on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated,;

-against-

STARBUCKS CORPORATION

Status: Filed

Key issues: Corporate Misconduct, Biometric Surveillance

Court: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Docket: 1:23-cv-03772

Counsel: S.T.O.P. / Peter Romer-Friedman Law PLLC / Pollock Cohen LLP

S.T.O.P. and our co-counsel filed a proposed class action lawsuit claiming that Starbucks illegally failed to notify customers that Starbucks’ stores using Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” technology in New York City 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. They also take palm images of customers who enter those areas of the stores with a palm signature. The case was filed under New York City’s 2021 biometric notice law, which requires businesses to post signs warning customers whenever their biometric information is being collected or shared and prohibits sharing customers’ biometric information for anything of value.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of Sullivan County resident Suzanne Mallouk who visited the Starbucks’ store with “Just Walk Out” technology at 111 E. 59th Street in November 2022, and a proposed class of tens of thousands of Starbucks customers. The complaint alleges 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, Starbucks allegedly took the additional step of posting signs that state that it only collects biometric data from customers who opt into the optional palm scanner program that Starbucks operates at two of its stores. However, as the lawsuit alleges, Starbucks collects and shares biometric data on all customers who enter the gated area of the store that includes the lounge and marketplace, even those customers who refuse to use the palm scanner, namely information on the shape and size of each customer’s body.