Judge Rules Apple Will Face Trial in Biometric Privacy Lawsuit Brought by Schlichter Bogard on Behalf of Illinois Users
As reported by Law360, a federal judge has ruled that Apple must face a jury trial over claims that it unlawfully collected and possessed Illinois users’ faceprints without the notice and consent required by the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).
The lawsuit, brought on behalf of Illinois users represented by Schlichter Bogard, alleges that Apple’s facial-recognition technology surreptitiously creates and stores biologically unique faceprints of individuals appearing in users’ photos, but provides users with no way to disable or opt out of the creation and storage of their faceprints—which for some users are stored on cloud-based servers. In its ruling, the Court rejected Apple’s arguments that the case should not proceed to trial and determined that a jury should decide whether Apple’s faceprints constitute biometric data protected by Illinois law.
Schlichter Bogard Co-Managing Partner Andrew Schlichter said in a statement that the ruling “makes clear that Apple’s liability for allegedly collecting and possessing biologically unique faceprints without notice or consent will be determined by a jury.” He added, “We look forward to the opportunity to prove the case at trial.”
For more information about Schlichter Bogard’s data privacy practice, please contact us at 800‑USE‑LAWS (873‑5297) or via email at contact@uselaws.com.
Photo credit: twinsterphoto – stock.adobe.com.
