Home Depot AI Surveillance Lawsuit, What It Means for Shoppers and HD Stock

Home Depot is facing layered legal and investor scrutiny over how it uses AI surveillance technology — from facial recognition at self-checkout kiosks to license plate readers that share data with law enforcement. The company is currently navigating significant legal and operational challenges, including a class action lawsuit over its AI surveillance practices. For anyone who has shopped at a Home Depot in Illinois, or for investors watching NYSE: HD, here is exactly what is happening and why it matters.

The Self-Checkout Facial Recognition Lawsuit

Home Depot’s AI-powered system, called Computer Vision, uses cameras and machine learning to perform facial recognition and collect customer facial geometry at self-checkout stations.

Home Depot announced it began using Computer Vision in August 2023. By May 2024, the company had expanded the technology to help mitigate theft at self-checkout stations.

On August 1, 2025, Chicago resident Benjamin Jankowski filed a proposed class action lawsuit — Jankowski v. The Home Depot, Inc., Case No. 1:25-cv-09144 — in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Jankowski claimed that while shopping at a self-checkout kiosk, he noticed a camera and screen above it where his face appeared inside a green box — a common indicator of facial recognition technology in use. There were no signs or notices around the store warning customers that Home Depot was collecting biometric data.

The lawsuit alleged three specific failures by Home Depot under Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) — one of the strictest biometric privacy laws in the country:

• Collecting customers’ facial data without informing them or obtaining written consent
• Failing to provide a public policy explaining how the biometric data collected would be stored, used, and when it would be destroyed
• Failing to disclose whether the data was shared with any third parties

Jankowski asked the court to award $1,000 per negligent violation of BIPA and $5,000 per willful violation, representing potentially millions of dollars across Home Depot’s 76 Illinois locations.

Where the Case Stands Now

Jankowski voluntarily dismissed the case on October 31, 2025. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted dismissal without prejudice, meaning the case can be refiled. Neither Jankowski nor Home Depot has commented publicly on the reason for the dismissal.

Possible reasons range from settlement discussions to discovery-related challenges or a reconsideration of litigation strategy. The voluntary dismissal does not constitute a resolution on the merits, and it does not prevent similar or related claims from arising in the future. The central legal question — whether Home Depot’s Computer Vision practices violate BIPA — remains unanswered by the courts.

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The Flock Safety Surveillance Issue: A Separate and Growing Risk

Alongside the BIPA lawsuit, Home Depot faces a shareholder-driven challenge over a different AI surveillance system entirely.

Home Depot shares data from its Flock Safety automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras with local law enforcement on a standing-access basis. Flock Safety is a surveillance vendor whose technology logs license plates in parking lots and feeds that data to participating law enforcement agencies.

In January 2026, Zevin Asset Management — a sustainability-minded investor holding more than $7 million in Home Depot stock — filed a shareholder proposal alongside 17 co-filers asking Home Depot to evaluate and report the risks associated with sharing data with third-party surveillance vendors.

The investor group’s concerns are specific and tied to immigration enforcement. The proposal asks for an “assessment of privacy and civil rights risks, including discrimination or wrongful detention from misuse of customer data.” Shareholders stated that “such practices may expose the Company to financial and legal risks, including potential data breaches and enforcement of evolving state privacy laws.”

From fall 2025 to early 2026, investor co-filers held three meetings with Home Depot. Despite those discussions, Home Depot did not fully address how data is used once it leaves Home Depot’s systems. The terms governing law enforcement access do not specify the scope of permissible uses with sufficient precision, and the company has not established the downstream accountability mechanisms investors have requested.

As of April 2026, over thirty towns, cities, and counties have canceled, terminated, or suspended Flock Safety contracts since early 2025, with the pace accelerating sharply following Mountain View, California’s termination of its Flock contract after discovering federal agencies accessed its data through a nationwide setting Flock had enabled without the city’s knowledge.

What This Means for HD Investors

For investors following NYSE: HD, this lawsuit fits into the broader trend of rising scrutiny on corporate data practices and AI. The outcome, and the company’s response, could influence future policies related to in-store surveillance, data sharing with law enforcement, and privacy protections that customers increasingly expect.

The lawsuit adds to existing investor activism pushing Home Depot to provide more detail on privacy and neutrality reporting. These issues raise fresh questions about legal, regulatory, and reputational risk around the company’s use of AI and customer data.

The most important short-term catalyst for HD remains execution against modest 2026 sales and EPS guidance, while key risks center on pressured margins and elevated capital spending. The data privacy proposal and surveillance concerns do not materially change near-term earnings drivers. But longer-term governance risk is real.

This lawsuit and the investor push on privacy reporting may influence how Home Depot shapes its digital, AI, and risk frameworks going forward. Shareholders will likely pay attention to any changes in disclosures, oversight of data use, and how the company responds to regulatory or court feedback.

The most relevant risk is that privacy concerns could affect customer trust or lead to regulatory action, which might increase compliance costs.

What Shoppers Should Know

If you have shopped at a Home Depot self-checkout kiosk in Illinois, here is the practical reality:

• Home Depot reportedly began using Computer Vision in August 2023, using cameras and machine learning to analyze images and videos for security purposes.
• The Jankowski lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice — meaning no court has ruled on whether Home Depot’s practices violate BIPA. No class action compensation currently exists from this case.
• BIPA requires companies to obtain informed written consent before collecting biometric data like facial scans, regardless of whether that data is actually misused. The question of whether Home Depot met that standard remains open.
• If you shop at a Home Depot and notice a green box around your face at self-checkout, you are likely interacting with the Computer Vision system.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there an active class action lawsuit against Home Depot over facial recognition?

 The original lawsuit — Jankowski v. The Home Depot, Inc., No. 1:25-cv-09144 — was voluntarily dismissed on October 31, 2025, without prejudice. This means it could be refiled. No court has ruled on whether Home Depot’s practices violate BIPA, and no settlement or compensation exists from this specific case.

What is BIPA and why does it matter here?

 BIPA, enacted by the Illinois Legislature, regulates the collection, use, and storage of biometric identifiers such as facial geometry scans. It requires private entities to develop publicly available written policies for retaining and destroying biometric data and to obtain informed, written consent from individuals before collecting their biometric information.

What is Flock Safety and how does Home Depot use it? 

Flock Safety is a surveillance vendor whose camera network logs license plates. Home Depot shares data from its Flock Safety ALPR cameras with local law enforcement on a standing-access basis. Investors are asking Home Depot to explain what happens to that data after it leaves the company’s control.

Has Home Depot confirmed it uses facial recognition?

 Home Depot’s VP of Asset Protection, Scott Glenn, emphasized in a 2024 interview that the company’s use of Computer Vision is for security purposes, specifically stopping theft. The company has not publicly denied that the system collects facial geometry.

How has this affected HD’s stock price?

 The data privacy proposals and surveillance concerns do not materially change near-term earnings drivers for HD. The risks are framed as governance and reputational in nature rather than immediate financial exposure. Investors should monitor future SEC filings and management commentary for any new disclosures on legal provisions tied to these issues.

Where can I find official court filings for the Jankowski case? 

The case was filed as Jankowski v. The Home Depot, Inc., Case No. 1:25-cv-09144, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Court records are publicly available through PACER at pacer.gov.

Last Updated: May 16, 2026. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. For investment decisions, consult a qualified financial advisor. For legal questions about biometric privacy rights in Illinois, consult a qualified consumer rights attorney.