TWO Chicago residents have filed separate class actions alleging that delivery robots operated by Coco Robotics (Cyan) and Serve Robotics illegally scanned customers’ faces, hands and surrounding LiDAR data during deliveries, storing the biometric data alongside names and addresses and using it to train AI models. The complaints say the robots’ cameras and LiDAR sensors captured facial geometry at close range, with little or no notice given, no written consent, and no clear retention or destruction schedule.
The actions argue that the data collection occurred during routine deliveries—one plaintiff stood about a metre from a Coco robot while entering a PIN, with a remote operator watching live video—and that the systems also collect 360-degree LiDAR data for navigation, potentially creating biometric profiles.
The lawsuits contend that Cyan uses the collected data to train its AI and has data-sharing partnerships with firms including OpenAI, while Serve Robotics allegedly licences video and LiDAR data to third parties for model training and may collect audio as well. Both companies deny the allegations: Coco insists it does not collect biometric data in Chicago and that the data shared is navigational, not biometric, and Serve says its robots are not designed to identify individuals or create biometric profiles.
Central to the cases is whether the data qualify as biometric information under Illinois’ biometric privacy law (BIPA) and whether proper disclosures, consent, and data-retention practices were followed.
Each suit, filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, seeks class-wide damages of £1,000 per member for negligent violations or £5,000 for intentional or reckless ones, with plaintiffs estimating thousands of affected individuals. The plaintiffs’ claims come amid broader local scrutiny over delivery robots, including petitions and safety concerns.