Chaayos, the multi-city chain of tea cafes, is under fire on social media for employing facial recognition, allegedly without customer consent. The chain’s use of the technology was reported when it made its Bengaluru debut this month, but it became a subject of controversy after Twitter users posted about it in the context of privacy.
A Twitterati also posted a picture of its store where the technology is deployed with the message flashing on the tablet, "why put numbers through, when we can identify you?" More worrying is Chaayos’ terms and conditions, also seen by this publication, which says that customers "should not expect that personal information should always remain private."
The facial recognition technology — which allows devices to identify users by their faces instead of passwords — is used to speed up orders for regular customers and “as an option to eliminate the hassles of OTPs”, the company said.
The technology has been integrated into the chain’s ‘loyaltea programme’ that earns customers points for every visit and lets them encash them for free tea, which customers, users alleged on Twitter, say they have no option to either refuse or opt out.
"Data from the facial recognition feature is encrypted and cannot be accessed by any party, including Chaayos itself, except for the purpose of logging-in our customers. There is no third-party sharing of data for any purpose," the chain said, adding "customers have the right to not opt in for facial recognition ... We also provide our customers with a permanent opt-out feature."
Experts also backed concerns stating that biometrics including facial data is classified as sensitive personal data and it is necessary to specify if the flow and use of personal data is appropriate, as per the draft data protection bill. Chaayos move is an “egregious violation of privacy” said an activist.