Facebook violated an Illinois state law by improperly using their photo-scanning and facial recognition technologies and storing biometric data without their users’ consent, a federal judge in California ruled on Monday, after reviewing a 2015 claim made against Facebook by three Illinois plaintiffs.<\/p>\n
In his ruling<\/a>, US District Judge James Donato determined that the \u201cclaims are sufficiently cohesive to allow for a fair and efficient resolution on a class basis.\u201d<\/em> The judge also noted that there is enough evidence to suggest that Facebook violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), enacted in 2008, which forbids companies from profiting from a person\u2019s biometric information.<\/p>\n Read more<\/p>\n Now, millions of Facebook users in the state of Illinois can seek up to $5,000 for each time the company’s \u201cTag Suggestions\u201d feature was used to mark them in a photo without their explicit consent. The class suit can accommodate all \u201cFacebook users located in Illinois for whom Facebook created and stored a face template after June 7, 2011,\u201d<\/em> the judge noted.<\/p>\n Facebook, which tried to get the case thrown out, said it was reviewing the ruling. \u201cWe continue to believe the case has no merit and will defend ourselves vigorously,\u201d<\/em> the company said in a statement.<\/p>\n Monday\u2019s ruling will likely impact the Silicon Valley giant, which has already lost billions of dollars in wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where some 87 million Facebook users had their personal data \u2018mishandled\u2019 and shared with a third party.<\/p>\n \u201cAs more people become aware of the scope of Facebook\u2019s data collection and as consequences begin to attach to that data collection, whether economic or regulatory, Facebook will have to take a long look at its privacy practices and make changes consistent with user expectations and regulatory requirements,\u201d<\/em> Shawn Williams, the plaintiffs’ attorney, told<\/a> Bloomberg.<\/p>\n
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