Here’s what chaayos has to say about capturing users’ facial data

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. > . @Chaayos doing facial recognition instead of

 OTP. I took this > video today.https://t.co/ecgOf56F2P >  > Issues: > 1. No terms&conditions displayed > 2. Consent isn't real when there's no opt out option

> 3. We don't know if chaayos will sell this data/gives itself the > right to >  > More ðŸ‘‡ > — Nikhil Pahwa , https://mstdn.social/@nixxin (@nixxin) November > 20, 

2019 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 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? > . @Chaayos collects your data but does not 

guarantee privacy. You > shouldn't expect it. All responsibility is yours. >  > Basically, risk is yours, reward is Chaayos' > pic.twitter.com/o559A0hjHL > — Nikhil 

Pahwa , https://mstdn.social/@nixxin (@nixxin) November > 21, 2019 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. > I would say that companies need to look at what they're implementing > not just as tech but also from the risks this creates for customers. > They need to 

be more responsible. >  > I'm calling for a moratorium on the rollout of facial recognition > systems until we have law's governing it. > — Nikhil Pahwa , 

https://mstdn.social/@nixxin (@nixxin) November > 21, 2019 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. Published: 21 Nov 2019, 4:17 PM IST