A new class action lawsuit alleges that Microsoft illegally harvested and analyzed users’ voice data through its Teams platform — without providing the disclosures required under Illinois law — setting the stage for a high-stakes legal battle over biometric privacy.
Filed Feb. 5 in federal court in Washington state, the Microsoft Teams voice collection suit accuses Microsoft Corp. of violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, commonly known as BIPA. The plaintiffs — Alex Basich, Kristin Bondlow and three others — claim the software giant captured and processed their voiceprints without informed consent.
Real-Time Transcription at the Center of Dispute
At the heart of the complaint is Microsoft Teams’ real-time transcription feature, introduced in 2021. The tool converts spoken words into text during virtual meetings. But according to the lawsuit, it does more than simply transcribe speech.
The feature relies on a process known as diarization, which distinguishes speakers by analyzing unique vocal traits — such as pitch, tone and timbre — and builds individual speaker profiles in the form of voiceprints. Those biometric identifiers allow the software to label who said what in a meeting.
Collecting voice data itself is not inherently unlawful. The issue, the plaintiffs argue, lies in what they describe as Microsoft’s failure to provide proper notice or obtain written consent from Illinois users before collecting and storing biometric information.
“Microsoft never informed Teams meeting participants that their biometrics, such as voiceprints, were being collected,” the complaint states. It further alleges the company did not disclose the purpose of the collection, the duration of storage, or a schedule for eventual destruction of the data.
