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<b><i>Online Extra:</b></i> Facebook Readies for Battle Over Biometrics

BY Ross Todd
August 31, 2015

Facebook Inc. will have home court advantage in a trio of privacy class actions claiming the company violated an Illinois law governing the collection of biometric data with its 'tag suggestion' feature.

The suits, which were filed in Illinois courts this spring by high-profile plaintiffs firms, claim that Facebook's use of facial recognition technology violates a 2008 Illinois law regulating the way companies use technologies that analyze individuals' unique physical characteristics to identify and track them. In late July a federal judge in Chicago transferred the suits to the Northern District of California where this week they began appearing on the docket of U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria-Elena James.

Lawyers at Edelson PC, Labaton Sucharow, and Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd sued Facebook on behalf of the site's Illinois users. Each suit claims Facebook violated the state's Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), which makes it illegal for a company to collect or access customers' biometric identifiers without first informing them in writing about what's being collected, how it's being used, and how long it's being stored. The law, which also requires companies to get written release from those whose data is being collecting, carries statutory damages of $1,000 for negligent violations, and $5,000 for those that are 'intentional and reckless.'

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