After drawing flak over its facial recognition system, Sunshine Teahouse Pvt Ltd, which runs popular tea store chain Chaayos, responded to data privacy concerns, says that the facial data collection is currently in the beta test phase, and will only be rolled out at all stores after thorough testing, reported News18.

According to the report, the company says that they “strive to leverage technology” to make the customer experience at stores even better. “Towards this endeavour, we have recently launched a facial recognition feature at our Point of Sale as an option to eliminate the hassles of OTPs and reduce the overall customer purchase time. The feature is currently in the beta phase at select cafes and will be officially rolled out post thorough testing,” they say

This corresponds to what the in-store staff had explained. But as for reducing what they call the customer purchase time, what would be simpler than walking up to the counter, placing your order, paying by cash or card and stepping aside? Whether it is facial recognition or waiting for an OTP, the very activity of collecting your data (obviously there is the excuse of loyalty programs etc.) every time you place an order is what adds to the waiting time for everyone in the queue, noted the report.

First Published:Nov 22, 2019 4:35 PM IST