‘Voiceprints’ Roil Companies as Biometrics Litigation Skyrockets

McDonald’s wanted to create a more individualized experience in its drive-thrus. So it set up artificial-intelligence-based voice assistant Apprente to take orders, extract the duration and pitch of an individual’s speech, and use the data to identify repeat customers.

Shannon Carpenter sued the fast food chain, claiming that McDonald’s captured and stored her “voiceprint” without her consent, a practice that has been illegal in Illinois since the Biometric Information Privacy Act was enacted in 2008.

The lawsuits aren’t likely to cause McDonald’s and other companies to scrap voiceprints and other biometrics—rather, there are extensive discussions on how to implement ...