Neutrogena agrees to $4.7M class action settlement over Skin360 biometric data

Neutrogena BIPA settlement overview:

• Who: Kenvue Inc., formerly known as Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., agreed to a $4.7 million proposed class action settlement.
• Why: Plaintiffs alleged Neutrogena’s Skin360 app unlawfully collected and stored users’ facial scans in violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).
• Where: The proposed class action settlement was filed in New Jersey federal court.

AKenvue has agreed to pay $4.7 million to resolve a proposed class action lawsuit alleging its Neutrogena Skin360 tool unlawfully collected and stored users’ facial scans in violation of Illinois biometric privacy law.

The proposed class action settlement would establish a $4.7 million cash fund for an estimated 11,000 Illinois users who performed a Skin360 skin assessment between December 2019 and May 2023. If all eligible class members participate, each could receive approximately $427.

The class action lawsuit was brought under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, which requires companies to obtain informed written consent before collecting, storing or using biometric identifiers, such as facial geometry. 

Plaintiffs alleged the Skin360 tool captured users’ facial scans without proper notice or consent and used the scans to enhance an artificial intelligence “skin coach” feature that provided product recommendations.

Skin360 was launched as a mobile app in 2018 and later introduced as a web-based application in 2020. 

Settlement would require destruction of Skin360 images

Plaintiffs alleged that while the tool eventually included a disclaimer stating that information collected “may include biometric data,” such disclosure did not appear on the Skin360 website until 2023.

Kenvue has maintained that Skin360 did not collect biometric data as defined under BIPA and argued that the technology was developed by a third party. However, the company agreed to settle after a federal judge denied its motion to dismiss, finding that the company failed to establish that an exemption under Illinois’ biometric privacy statute applied.

In addition to monetary relief, the proposed class action settlement requires Kenvue to destroy all images collected through the Skin360 tool during the settlement class period.

Plaintiffs told the court that continued litigation would present significant risks, including the burden of proving that the data captured by Skin360 constituted biometric information under Illinois law. 

They argued that the agreement provides meaningful compensation now rather than uncertain recovery years later.

In October last year, Neutrogena issued a recall for 1,312 cases of its Makeup Remover Ultra-Soft Cleansing Towelettes after an internal investigation detected the presence of Pluralibacter gergoviae, a bacterium that can cause serious infections.

What do you think of the Neutrogena Skin360 class action settlement? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by Matthew R. Mendelsohn of Mazie Slater Katz & Freeman LLC, Grace E. Parasmo and Yitzchak H. Lieberman of Parasmo Lieberman Law and Allen Schwartz of Schwartz Law PLLC.

The Neutrogena class action lawsuit is Melzer, et al. v. Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., Case No. 3:22-cv-03149, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

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