Here’s What Chaayos Has to Say About Capturing Users’ Facial Data

The company is using facial recognition to identify customers who are coming to buy products at its store.

The startup is using advanced tech to offer convenience to users.

(Photo: Twitter/Chaayos)

In a bizarre turn of events, Chaayos has been found asking customers to scan their faces before buying any products, saying it would make their buying process more convenient while also offering discounts.

However, this supposed convenience comes at a price, as facial recognition details are confidential data and this goes against the data policies right now in the country.

This observation was made by Nikhil Pahwa, Founder, Medianama, who visited a Chaayos outlet recently, and even recorded a video, where the brand is allowing people to purchase tea and other items by using their mobile number, but instead of asking for a one-time password (OTP), it wants to capture facial data of the customer.

He also pointed out that Chaayos is doing this without highlighting the terms and conditions and not really seeking a person’s consent, as he didn’t come across any "opt-out" option.

After a few hours, Chaayos shared its response on the development, citing this as a “secure process and cannot be accessed by any party.”

At Chaayos, we are extremely conscious about our customer’s data security and privacy and are committed to protecting it. 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 the data for any purpose. And Chaayos does not use or process this information for any other purpose.

Chaayos statement

The company also pointed out that “customers have the right to not opt-in for facial recognition and instead use their phone number.” And just in case your data was captured at any of its outlets, you can permanently remove the captured photos via a feature which it claims is available on its website.

It also emphasised that use of facial recognition is currently in the beta phase, and available only at select cafes and will only be rolled out post thorough testing.

After digging through the company’s terms and conditions on its website, he found a startling admission made by Chaayos, which definitely needs to be corrected.

Concerns Persist

Customer should not expect, that Customer’s personal information should always remain private.  

Chaayos terms and conditions as discovered by Nikhil Pahwa, Founder, Medianama

Like it or not, facial recognition is soon going to become mainstream and users have no say against it.(Photo: The Quint)

After going through all this, Pahwa did raise some valid questions directed towards Chaayos and with this statement, the company is looking to ease the concerns.

However, here’s the bigger problem coming to the fore with this development. India still doesn’t have a structured set of policies and regulations that companies like Chaayos need to comply with, let alone for using facial recognition to identify and capture customer data.

It’s pretty evident that Chaayos needs to revamp its overall data privacy policies to fall in line with current user privacy regulations globally, like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union.

What Happens to My Data?

That brings us to the other concerns about why Chaayos is doing this. As Pahwa mentions, Chaayos is taking your data (be it facial, email ID or mobile number) but yet it doesn’t guarantee privacy. Can you believe how ridiculous that sounds?

If that wasn’t enough, Pahwa thinks that Chaayos, or any other brands capturing your facial data, could one day share it with the government or law enforcement agencies, if a law demanding that is passed in the near future. This also means that Chaayos could share your data (all forms) with third-party entities, without letting you know about it.

And Pahwa has a word of caution for companies using such advanced tech features. He says they create risk for a customer so companies need to be more responsible.

So, the next time you get a free tea or a donut for paying and sharing your data with companies like these, beware of the repercussions that the "freebie" might bring you.