Walmart is being sued for allegedly keeping the voiceprints of the customers who called its stores, according to a proposed class action lawsuit in Illinois.
It was filed on behalf of Amber Smith last July, an Illinois resident who called her local Walmart store in December 2025 and July 2026. The calls were received by Walmart’s automated interactive voice system. “Plaintiff Smith is gravely concerned and upset about the collection of her biometric information – which she views as a form of surveillance without adequate consent,” a copy of the publicly available lawsuit read.
It added that Smith is “especially worried because she also uses her voiceprint to unlock other highly confidential services, like her bank accounts, which legally collect her voiceprint due to its ability to serve as a biometric identifier.”
The lawsuit said the retail giant stored and collected the voiceprints without disclosing in writing that the biometric is being collected, a violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.
The law, passed in 2008 to regulate how companies collect and use sensitive biometrics, requires companies to inform users “in writing” that their biometric identifier is being collected or stored.
This comes at a time when it has become almost second nature for companies to treat consumer behavior as data that can help improve the personalization of the shopping experience, raising questions about privacy coming at the cost of convenience.
“Often, consumers, like Plaintiff and Class members, will call their local store to inquire about the items they have bought or are intending to buy. However, instead of getting an actual customer service representative, Walmart delegates the responsibility of answering customer calls to [the automated interactive voice system],” the lawsuit read.
Moreover, the lawsuit said retailers like Walmart use biometrics to identify customers and link their data to methods of payments, such as credit and debit cards. The result, it said, is the creation of a “vast repository of information” that is ultimately tied to the biometric identifier.
Merely including the collection of biometric data in the retailer’s privacy policy is not enough under state law, it said.
Another lawsuit against Walmart was also filed in Illinois recently concerning unauthorized voice prints, with Plaintiff Anthony Wilson alleging that the data may be shared to third parties, several news reports said.
