Victory! Lawsuit May Proceed Against Facebook’s Biometric Surveillance

Biometric surveillance by companies against consumers is a growing menace to our privacy, freedom of expression, and civil rights. Fortunately, a federal appeals court has ruled that a lawsuit against Facebook for its face surveillance may move forward.

The decision, by the federal Ninth Circuit about an Illinois privacy law, is the first by an American appellate court to directly identify the unique hazards of face surveillance. This is an important victory for biometric privacy, access to the courts for ordinary people, and the role of state governments as guardians of our digital liberty.

Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act

The Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act of 2008 (BIPA) is one of our nation’s most important privacy safeguards for ordinary people against corporations that want to harvest and monetize their personal information.

BIPA bars a company from collecting, using, or sharing a person’s biometric information, absent that person’s informed opt-in consent. BIPA also requires a company to destroy a person’s biometric information when its purpose for collection is satisfied, or within three years of the company’s last contact with the person, whichever is sooner. BIPA provides the strongest enforcement tool: a “private right of action,” meaning a person may file their own lawsuit against a company that violates their privacy rights.

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