Anthropic Faces Illinois Biometric Privacy Claims Over Claude ID Checks

Anthropic faces a proposed class action alleging that its identity-verification process for Claude collected Illinois users’ facial biometrics without the retention disclosures required by the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act.

Chicago resident Jose Enrique Ortiz Colon brought the complaint in San Francisco County Superior Court. He says Anthropic locked him out of his Claude account until he submitted images of his driver’s license and a live facial image through identity-verification provider Persona.

The complaint alleges that the process extracted face geometry from both the live image and the license photograph, then compared them to confirm that he was the person named on the document. Ortiz Colon says he completed the verification while physically in Chicago.

The lawsuit centers on two provisions of BIPA. Under section 15(b)(2), the plaintiff alleges Anthropic failed to disclose in writing, before collection, how long his biometric data would be collected, stored and used. Under section 15(a), he alleges the company possessed biometric data without publishing the required retention schedule and permanent-destruction guidelines.

Ortiz Colon argues that Anthropic controlled the verification purpose and retention instructions even though Persona performed the collection and processing. The complaint points to Anthropic’s ability to access verification records through Persona for matters such as appeals as part of its allegation that Anthropic retained control over the data.

An Anthropic spokesperson told Courthouse News that the company takes users’ privacy seriously and is reviewing the complaint. The filing seeks class certification, statutory damages, legal costs and orders requiring retention disclosures and a public destruction policy.

Anthropic previously introduced government-ID and selfie verification for certain Claude capabilities and platform-integrity checks. Its description says Persona handles the verification artifacts and limits their use to verification and fraud prevention. The complaint challenges the adequacy of the retention information supplied to Illinois users.

The proposed class covers people who submitted a live facial image through Claude’s government-ID and selfie process while in Illinois during the period specified in the complaint. It has not been certified.

BIPA permits damages of $1,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater, for negligent violations, and $5,000 or actual damages for intentional or reckless violations. The law also figures in ongoing litigation over Otter.ai’s alleged voiceprint collection.

Sources: Class-Action Complaint, Courthouse News

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By the ID Tech Editorial Team