Class Action Accuses Google of Illegally Collecting Biometric Data

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Google Inc. illegally uses facial recognition technology to collect the face templates of individuals in violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, according to a class action lawsuit that was filed Friday in Illinois federal court.

“Specifically, Google has created, collected and stored, in conjunction with its cloud-based ‘Google Photos’ service, millions of ‘face templates’ (or ‘face prints’) – highly detailed geometric maps of the face – from millions of Illinois residents,” plaintiff Joseph Weiss alleges in the Google class action lawsuit.

“Google creates these templates using sophisticated facial recognition technology that extracts and analyzes data from the points and contours of faces that appear in photos taken on Google ‘Droid’ devices and uploaded to the cloud-based Google Photos service,” the Google biometric data class action lawsuit continues. “Each face template that Google extracts is unique to a particular individual, in the same way that a fingerprint or voiceprint uniquely identifies one and only one person.”

The Google class action lawsuit alleges that the unique face prints collected by Google Photos can be used to identify individuals by name, and also to recognize their age, gender and location. Google also collects this data from non-users.

Weiss says he bought two Google Droid devices. The first was purchased in 2013 and the second was purchased in 2015. According to the Google class action lawsuit, Weiss used his Droid devices to take photos and upload them to his cloud-based Google Photos account.

“Upon upload to the cloud-based Google Photos storage service, Google analyzed these photos by automatically locating and scanning Plaintiff’s face, and by extracting geometric data relating to the contours of his face and distances between his eyes, nose and ears – data which Google then used to create a unique template of Plaintiff’s face,” the Google class action lawsuit alleges.

According to the face print collection class action lawsuit, Google used Weiss’s face template to locate and group all photos that featured his image. Weiss says he never gave permission for Google to collect or store his unique biometric identifiers.

By filing the Google biometric data class action lawsuit, Weiss seeks to represent himself and a proposed Class of individuals who, while residing in Illinois, had their face templates collected, captured or otherwise obtained by Google. He wants to prevent Google from continuing to violate the privacy rights of Illinois residents and to collect statutory damages for Google’s unauthorized collection, storage and use of biometric data.

According to the Google class action lawsuit, BIPA provides statutory damages worth $5,000 for each intentional or reckless violation and $1,000 for each negligent violation. Weiss asserts that there are likely millions of individuals who would qualify as Class Members of this Google face print lawsuit.

Google is not the first company to be accused of violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act. Facebook and Shutterfly have also been hit with class action lawsuits over the companies’ alleged use of “face prints.”

Weiss is represented by Katrina Carroll and Kyle A. Shamberg of Lite DePalma Greenberg LLC; Robert Ahdoot, Tina Wolfson and Bradley King of Ahdoot & Wolfson PC; and David P. Milian and Frank S. Hedin of Carey Rodriguez Milian Gonya LLP.

The Google Biometric Data Class Action Lawsuit is Joseph Weiss v. Google Inc., Case No. 1:16-cv-02870, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

UPDATE: On July 1, 2016, in response to Google’s request to dismiss a proposed consolidated class action lawsuit over its face-recognition technology, plaintiffs told the Court that Google’s practice of scanning photographs falls under Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).