JPMorgan, Nuance No-Consent Voice Print Use California CIPA Class Action

JPMorgan Chase Bank, NA, the complaint for this class action alleges, has installed a voice biometric security system called Gatekeeper, to monitor voice interactions and in order to prevent fraud. The complaint alleges the use of this system in California, without the consent of those recorded, violates the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA). It brings suit against the bank and its parent company JPMorgan Chase & Co., as well as the inventor of the system, Nuance Communications, Inc., and Nuance’s parent company, Microsoft Corporation.

The class for this action is all residents of California who had their voice prints or other elements of their conversations recorded by Microsoft and Nuance using Gatekeeper. A subclass has also been defined, for those in the above class whose voice prints or other elements of their conversations were recorded in the course of conversations with Chase Bank.

The complaint quotes CIPA as forbidding a person or entity from “intentionally and without the consent of all parties to a confidential communication, us[ing] an electronic amplifying or recording device to eavesdrop upon or record [a] confidential communication.”

Another provision of the law forbids a person or entity from using “any system which examines or records in any manner voice prints or other voice stress patterns of another person to determine the truth or falsity of statements made by such other person without her or her express written consent given in advance of the examination or recordation.”

The complaint then quotes Nuance’s website as describing Gatekeeper as a “[b]iometric authentication and intelligent fraud detection” that “analyze[s] biometric, nonbiometric, and other available data to make intelligent authentication and fraud risk assessments” and “[a]nalyze[s] a person’s unique voice signature, including physical speech and delivery factors…”

According to the complaint, Gatekeeper is not like a tape recorder. “Instead,” it says, “Gatekeeper involves Nuance and Microsoft—separate and distinct third-party entities from the parties to the conversation—using Gatekeeper to eavesdrop upon, record, extra[ct] data from, and analyze a conversation to which they are not a party.” Nuance and Microsoft, the complaint alleges, analyze the data before providing it to any part of the conversation, such as Chase Bank.

The complaint claims that Gatekeeper is used to determine the truth or falsity of the statement consumers make during telephone calls between Chase and its customers, such as when customers identify themselves.

However, the complaint claims, Chase does not tell these consumers that third parties Nuance and Microsoft are listening to their confidential communications with their bank, that their communications are being recorded, or that their voice prints or stress patterns will be recorded or examined. Neither the Chase companies nor Nuance and Microsoft, the complaint alleges, gets consent from the consumers to do these things.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Privacy
Tags: CIPA, Recording Electronic Communications Without Consent, Recording Telephone Calls Without Consent, Voice Print, Your Privacy