For all the controversy they’ve caught this year, Flock cameras only collect and store license plate data from passing vehicles.
But the WALL-E-esque delivery robots now trundling through America’s cities are bristling with cameras and sensors that help them navigate the bustling world around them as they make their way to customers’ doorsteps — and according to a pair of new lawsuits, you might be coughing up sensitive data in exchange for your dinner.
According to reporting by the Associated Press, delivery robot companies Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics have been hit with similar lawsuits from Chicago residents claiming that their bots are illegally collecting sensitive biometric data.
The lawsuits claim that the robots have used embedded cameras and LIDAR sensors to record information about Chicago residents’ hands, bodies, and faces as they approach their deliveries. In both cases, the plaintiffs allege that they didn’t request or consent to a robot delivery. Because they didn’t ask for a robot delivery, they argue, they certainly didn’t consent to being recorded or their data being collected by the delivery machines.
