Drudge Retort: The Other Side of the News
Monday, September 14, 2026

An Illinois consumer claims in a class action that home improvement giant Lowe's is secretly collecting callers' voiceprints and sharing their biometric data without consent.

More

Alternate links: Google News | Twitter

Lowe's Home Centers LLC failed in its bid to dismiss a proposed class action alleging it collected and disclosed consumers' personal information in violation of the pen register provisions California Invasion of Privacy Act.

[image or embed]

-- Bloomberg Law (@bloomberglaw.com) 2:00 AM · Aug 28, 2026

Comments

Admin's note: Participants in this discussion must follow the site's moderation policy. Profanity will be filtered. Abusive conduct is not allowed.

More from the article ...

... "Unbeknownst to plaintiff and other Illinois callers, Lowe's records callers' voices and, upon information and belief, subjects at least some calls to speaker-recognition or voice analysis processing that creates, collects, receives, or otherwise obtains voice prints derived from callers' distinctive vocal characteristics," Perkins says in the complaint. ...

While ordinary audio recording is a standard practice among customer service intended to improve overall quality, biometric technology analyzes characteristics of a speaker's voice and translates it into a "mathematical representation" used to distinguish a specific speaker from others.

"Unlike a password, account number, or security code, an individual cannot simply replace the biological and behavioral characteristics reflected in a voiceprint if the information is compromised," Perkins says in the complaint. ...


#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-09-13 06:48 PM | Reply

Does Lowe's then sell those voiceprints?

If so, what personal data might be attached to those voiceprints, and who might the buyers be?

#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-09-13 06:49 PM | Reply

LAMP

I was left asking what dollar value would a permanent voiceprint be to anyone?

Take Donald Trump for example. We already know the dollar value of his voiceprint (character) is $0.00.

Free to AI for the taking, so to speak.

#3 | Posted by Twinpac at 2026-09-15 05:10 AM | Reply

Does Lowe's then sell those voiceprints?
If so, what personal data might be attached to those voiceprints, and who might the buyers be?
#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-09-13 06:49 PM | Reply | Flag:

Lowe's was one of the first retailers to place a minimum of 3 Flock cameras in their parking lot - in addition to their own surveillance cameras. The ONLY reason those Flock cameras are there is to track and sell your data.

#4 | Posted by lfthndthrds at 2026-09-15 10:25 AM | Reply

Unfettered capitalism at its finest.

Profit before people. Greed is good.

It is the Way. The capitalist Way.

#5 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-09-15 11:01 AM | Reply

#5 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-09-15 11:01 AM | Reply | Flag:

I'm sure if the Democrats take power back, it'll all go away...Right???

#6 | Posted by lfthndthrds at 2026-09-15 12:52 PM | Reply

I'm sure if the Democrats take power back, it'll all go away...Right???

#6 | POSTED BY LFTHNDTHRDS

Dunno. Is that what you want? Or are you happy with the way things are?

It's not up to me. I'm not even in the rat race anymore.

It's up to the people.

#7 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-09-15 01:16 PM | Reply

It's up to the people.

#7 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-09-15 01:16 PM | Reply | Flag:

No, it's not and you already know that.

It's up to the politicians in DC and the lobbyists who shower them with gratuity to make ---- like this happen.

#8 | Posted by lfthndthrds at 2026-09-15 01:40 PM | Reply

"It's up to the politicians in DC and the lobbyists ... "

It's up to the people to vote the bums out.

After witnessing the Great American FAFO I too have very little hope of that actually happening.

#9 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-09-15 02:38 PM | Reply

The following HTML tags are allowed in comments: a href, b, i, p, br, ul, ol, li and blockquote. Others will be stripped out. Participants in this discussion must follow the site's moderation policy. Profanity will be filtered. Abusive conduct is not allowed.

Anyone can join this site and make comments. To post this comment, you must sign it with your Drudge Retort username. If you can't remember your username or password, use the lost password form to request it.
Username:
Password:

Home | Breaking News | Comments | User Blogs | Stats | Back Page | RSS Feed | RSS Spec | DMCA Compliance | Privacy

Drudge Retort