Chicago Journalists Take Legal Action Against Tech Giants Over Voice Use
CHICAGO — A group of notable journalists, podcasters, and voice actors from Chicago have launched nine class-action lawsuits this week, claiming that major tech companies, including Google, Amazon, and Apple, have used their voices without permission to train artificial intelligence (AI) systems.
These lawsuits, filed in federal court in Chicago, delve into a new aspect of Illinois’ strong biometric data privacy laws. In recent years, the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) has led to thousands of legal actions against businesses accused of improperly collecting biometric data, mostly fingerprints from employees. This has resulted in millions of dollars in settlements for Illinois residents.
Famous broadcasters like Carol Marin and Phil Rogers, who are both retired from NBC 5 in Chicago, are among the plaintiffs. They are joined by audiobook narrators and podcasters who allege that their voice recordings were used for AI training without their consent.
Ross Kimbarovsky, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, described the situation as a significant violation of biometric privacy. He stated, “What we are seeing is an illegal and unethical exploitation of talent on a massive scale.” Kimbarovsky criticized the tech companies for ignoring BIPA and claimed they had established a lucrative business based on using stolen voices.
The lawsuits name several tech behemoths, including Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, as well as Facebook’s parent company, Meta. So far, none of these companies have publicly commented on the lawsuits.
Proponents of BIPA emphasize the unique nature of biometric data. Losing control over one’s fingerprints, voice, or facial recognition can have lasting consequences, unlike losing a Social Security number, which can be replaced. Under BIPA, companies must obtain written consent before collecting biometric data.
The lawsuits argue that the companies involved did not seek consent for using the plaintiffs’ voices in their AI training models. For example, the lawsuit against Amazon claims that none of the individuals were informed their voices were being used to develop the company’s commercial voice AI.
Voiceprints, described as digital fingerprints of human voices, are highlighted in the complaints. These prints capture elements such as pitch and speech patterns, identifying individuals in an unchangeable way.
Legal experts suggest that these voiceprint cases could prove significant for BIPA, especially if courts determine that voiceprints are indeed recognizable. Earlier this year, Whole Foods reached a $300,000 settlement after a similar case involving employees’ voiceprints, marking one of the first instances of BIPA cases centered on voice data.
As technology advances, this new wave of litigation could reshape the landscape of biometric privacy laws in Illinois, focusing primarily on how companies use personal voice data.
