Two lawsuits claim Chicago delivery robots scanned customers' faces and hands without consent, which both firms deny. Should sidewalk robots need your permission to record you?
The proposed class actions against Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics, filed in Cook County under Illinois' biometric privacy law, say customers who never chose robot delivery were scanned by cameras and LiDAR, and that data went to third parties to train AI. Coco calls the suit meritless; Serve says its systems are not designed to identify people.
What happened
Two proposed class-action lawsuits were filed in Illinois on 9 October against Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics. A DoorDash customer and an Uber Eats customer say robots delivering their food used cameras and LiDAR sensors to capture 3D measurements of their faces and hands without written notice or consent, as Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act requires. The suits also allege robots scan people on the pavement, and that data was shared with third parties, including OpenAI in Coco's case, to train AI. They seek $1,000 per negligent violation or $5,000 per intentional or reckless one.
Why people disagree
Supporters of the suits say face and hand geometry can't be changed once exposed, customers were assigned robots without choosing them, and passers-by never agreed to anything. The firms and their defenders say the cameras and sensors exist to navigate safely, not to identify anyone; Coco says it has collected no biometric data in Chicago and never used LiDAR there, and Serve says its systems aren't built to profile individuals.
What's still unclear
These are allegations, not findings, and no court has ruled. It isn't yet clear what the robots actually store, whether the data counts as biometric under the law, or whether the cases will be certified as class actions.
Sources
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