Facebook Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over ‘Face Print’ Collection

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The social network giant Facebook faces a putative $5 million class action lawsuit over allegations that the company violated Illinois’ biometric privacy law by allowing their photo-tagging feature to create and store facial templates of non-users within the state.

Lead plaintiff Frederick Gullen filed the Facebook class action lawsuit on Monday alleging that the social media company has stored more than 1 billion “face prints” and millions of them are from residents of Illinois.

According to the Facebook lawsuit, the state of Illinois has enacted the Biometric Information Privacy Act which protects residents from companies trying to collect and store “face prints” unless they are informed in writing about the purpose and length of time the information is stored and then receives a written release from the individual to have their biometric data collected.

Gullen claims that Facebook is subject to Illinois laws because they have registered to conduct business within the state and because the company maintains a physical office in Illinois as well.

The Facebook biometric data class action lawsuit states that Illinois passed the BIPA because unlike other private information like Social Security numbers which can be changed if compromised, biometrics are unique to the individual therefore creating an increased risk for identity theft.

If Facebook is found in violation of Illinois’ BIPA, non-Facebook Class Members within the state could receive $5,000 for each intentional violation and $1,000 for each negligent violation. Gullen claims there are likely tens of thousands of Illinois residents who have had their photos uploaded to the social website without their consent.

Gullen states that even though he has never had a Facebook account, someone uploaded a picture of him to the website and encouraged the user to “tag” the photo. At this point, Gullen claims that Facebook analyzed his face, extracted his biometric identifiers in order to recognize his gender, age, race and location.

According to the Facebook class action lawsuit, social media users upload nearly 300 million photos per day and encourage “photo-tagging” which makes photographs a “vital part of the Facebook experience.” However, Gullen states that the average Illinois resident is unaware that it is a direct violation of the BIPA to collect and store facial geometric data without notifying the individual and getting their consent.

The biometric data class action lawsuit states, “Facebook holds several patents covering its facial recognition technology that detail its process of scanning photos for biometric identifiers and storing face templates in its database without obtaining informed written consent.”

If approved, the Facebook class action lawsuit would be open to all non-Facebook Class Members who, while residing in the state of Illinois, had their biometric identifiers, including “face templates” collected, captured, received, or otherwise obtained by Facebook.

Gullen is represented by David P. Milian and Frank S. Hedin of Carey Rodriguez O’Keefe Milian Gonya LLP and Katrina Carroll of Lite DePalma Greenberg LLC.

The Facebook Biometric Data Class Action Lawsuit is Gullen v. Facebook Inc., Case No 1:15-cv-07681, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

UPDATE: On Jan. 26, 2018, Facebook tried to shake claims in two Facebook biometric class action lawsuits. They argued that the plaintiffs failed to show that any “common harm” had been inflicted on a group of individuals because of Facebook’s practice of storing facial scans.

UPDATE 2: On March 2, 2018, Facebook can’t escape a class action lawsuit alleging it unlawfully collects non-users’ facial scans, according to a California federal judge.

UPDATE 3: On March 16, 2018, Facebook Inc. filed motions for summary judgment in a bid to end two putative class action lawsuits accusing the social network of unlawfully using facial-recognition technology to collect users’ biometric data without their consent.

UPDATE 4: On April 3, 2018, a federal judge tossed Gullen’s proposed class action lawsuit against Facebook alleging their biometric policy violates Illinois’ privacy laws.