Meta Class Action Alleges Company Violated Privacy Rights Of Minors By Harvesting Their Data

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Meta Minor Biometric Data Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: Parents have filed a class action lawsuit against Meta Platforms, Inc. 
• Why: They claim Meta violated minors’ privacy rights and illegally collected their biometric data.
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Alabama federal court. 

Meta Platforms, Inc. is being accused of scheming to harvest the images of minors, and that its rebrand was part of its plan to do so, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

A group of parents claim Meta, formerly doing business as Facebook, violated minors’ privacy rights by surveilling them and illegally collecting their biometric data. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is also named as a defendant in the class action lawsuit. 

Parents want to represent a nationwide class and Alabama subclass of more than 285 million minors whose images were posted on Facebook and allegedly harvested by the company without permission. 

Meta has illegally trafficked and stored the images of minors for years, parents allege, arguing the data is used for the company’s own purposes, as well as sold to third parties. 

Parents argue that Facebook’s October rebrand to Meta, meanwhile, is part of its plan to increase its for profit data harvesting, including that of minors. 

Getting Rid Of Facial Recognition Technology Does Not Undo Past Damage, Parents Argue

Facebook has recently been under fire for its practice of harvesting biometric data and announced in November that it was planning to shut down its facial recognition system and clear its database.

The decision came after the social networking giant agreed to pay $650 million last year to settle a biometric privacy lawsuit based on claims related to its use of technology to capture and store biometric data. 

Parents argue, meanwhile, that Facebook getting rid of its facial recognition technology does not undo the past damage it has done.

“Facebook’s banning of the facial recognition is per se a remedial measure, but does not forego the claims for enrichment during the data harvesting period,” the class action lawsuit states. 

Parents claim Meta is guilty of unjust enrichment and fraudulent enrichment, and in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. 

Plaintiffs are demanding a jury trial and requesting statutory treble damages of $330 per intentional violation of the Sherman Act. 

Have you had your data collected by Meta without consent? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by Trenton Garmon of Garmon & Associates, PLLC. 

The Meta Minor Biometric Data Class Action Lawsuit is Hill, et al. v. Meta Platforms, Inc., et al., Case No. 4:22-cv-00001, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

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