Delivery robots accused of scanning customers’ faces and sharing biometric data

Notably, the battle over Chicago's food delivery robots has reached the courts, with two customers accusing the firms behind them of collecting their biometric data without consent.

Key points

• Mitchell Breidinger, from the Near North Side, notes he ordered groceries through DoorDash in September 2025 and never chose robot delivery.
• The men filed separate class-action lawsuits in Cook County court Oct.
• The battle over Chicago's food delivery robots has reached the courts.
• AP AUDIO: Delivery robots accused of scanning customers' faces, sharing biometric data.

For context, the men filed separate class-action lawsuits in Cook County court Oct. 9 against Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics, alleging the firms violated a state privacy law. They claim the firms' machines scanned their faces and hands without their knowledge or consent. Both firms dispute the allegations.

In practice, the lawsuits allege the robots' cameras and LiDAR – a technology that sends out laser pulses to measure distances and map the surrounding environment – captured measurements of customers' faces and hands as they approached the machines to retrieve their orders.

For context, the battle over Chicago's food delivery robots has reached the courts. The AP's Marcela Sanchez has more.

Mitchell Breidinger, from the Near North Side, notes he ordered groceries through DoorDash in September 2025 and never chose robot delivery. But his order was assigned to a Coco robot, according to his lawsuit. When it arrived, he had to stand close to the machine to enter a code and retrieve his groceries.

Taken together, the developments around delivery robots accused of scanning customers' faces and sharing biometric data point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.