Sep 9, 2025
A lawsuit in Illinois accuses Home Depot of collecting customer data without consent.
The plaintiff, Benjamin Jankowski, filed the class action suit against Home Depot on August 1 in US District Court, alleging violations of the state’s consumer privacy laws.
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Jankowski, a regular shopper at Home Depot, claims that when checking out at a Chicago store location on June 22 of this year, he spotted something he hadn’t agreed to: a biometric scan [1].
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The suit seeks to represent all individuals whose facial geometry was collected while visiting a Home Depot store in Illinois.
The case raises questions about the way big brands collect and maintain sensitive user data — particularly when these practices may conflict with consumer protections.
Home Depot collecting biometric data
According to the Jankowski lawsuit, the self-checkout register was equipped with a camera and a screen.
On that screen, Jankowski saw a green box around his face, indicating that the system was capturing his facial geometry — his biometric information.
The practice, he charges, directly violates the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). That’s because Home Depot failed to obtain customers’ informed, written consent before collecting their biometric data, or to make its data retention policies publicly available when checking out.
The lawsuit seeks a punitive judgment of $5,000 for each alleged violation of the law. Home Depot currently operates 76 stores across Illinois, meaning the potential fines could amount to millions of dollars.
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What the law says
Illinois isn’t the only state offering consumers protection from illicit biometric data collection practices.
Texas and Washington also have comprehensive biometrics laws, while California, Colorado, and Virginia include biometric data within their general consumer privacy statutes. Additionally, some cities, such as New York City and Portland, Oregon, have introduced local biometric privacy ordinances.
The precedent for Jankowski’s lawsuit was established in a landmark 2019 case in which a mother successfully sued the theme park for unlawfully collecting her son's fingerprints without providing BIPA-compliant notice and consent [2].
New technologies spurring concerns
Collecting digital data is a common practice among retailers, often through methods such as browsing history, on-site cookies and other tracking tools. But these practices require the consumer to either opt-in or be notified in writing.
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Home Depot announced in 2023 that it was rolling out what it called “computer vision,” a type of AI machine learning software designed to help employees with stock.
It was later expanded to self-checkouts to help mitigate theft risks. However, that change was never explicitly made clear to shoppers like Jankowski.
“A person’s facial geometry is like their fingerprint: it is an immutable, unique identifier that deserves the highest degree of protection the law can afford,” said Tom Hanson, an attorney at Loevy & Loevy, a Chicago-based civil rights law firm.
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[1]. PC Gamer. “Chicago man sues Home Depot, alleging it's secretly using AI facial recognition at self-checkout”
[2]. Illinois Supreme Court. “Rosenbach v. Six Flags Entertainment Corp.”
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Cory Santos is a finance writer, editor and credit card expert with over seven years of experience in personal finance. Having lived and worked worldwide, Cory now calls South Florida home, helping consumers find their ideal credit card and offering impartial and approachable advice to help them navigate their best financial lives. Cory joined Wise Publishing from BestCards, with bylines in numerous digital publications across North America, including AOL, MSN, Yahoo Finance, the Miami Herald, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and more. When he isn't scouring for the latest credit card deals and offers, Cory can be found working on his various historical research projects, jogging, or hanging out with his cats, Bentley, Cougar, and Pumpkin.
