Judge Advances Illinois Biometric Privacy Lawsuit Over ‘Diversity in Faces’ Dataset

A federal judge in California has allowed Illinois residents to move forward with a streamlined version of their class action lawsuit against Google over alleged violations of biometric privacy laws. U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman’s ruling, which follows her previous expressions of concern about the case’s merit, permits specific claims to continue while dismissing others.

The plaintiffs, Steven Vance and Tim Janecyk, can proceed with their claim that Google violated the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act (BIPA) by collecting their biometric information without consent. BIPA, enacted in 2008, is the nation’s strictest biometric privacy law, requiring companies to obtain explicit permission before collecting or storing residents’ biometric data.

The case centers on Google’s alleged use of facial data from IBM’s “Diversity in Faces” dataset, which contains over 100 million Creative Commons-licensed Flickr images. This dataset, originally created to reduce demographic bias in facial recognition systems, has become the center of multiple high-profile BIPA lawsuits against major tech companies.

The judge also allowed their unjust enrichment claim under Illinois law to move forward, though only for injunctive relief. However, the court dismissed claims that Google “otherwise profited” from the biometric data, citing insufficient evidence.

The lawsuit exists within a broader context of legal challenges regarding biometric data usage. Major tech companies like Microsoft and Amazon face similar BIPA-related allegations regarding their use of the IBM dataset for facial recognition system training. The legal landscape for biometric privacy has been particularly active in Illinois, with Facebook agreeing to a $550 million settlement in 2020 over BIPA violations related to its photo-tagging feature. More recently, Google agreed to a $23 million settlement in January 2023 regarding search query sharing with advertisers.

The ruling’s implications extend beyond this single case, potentially setting precedents for biometric data handling and user consent requirements in the technology sector. As companies increasingly deploy facial recognition technology for various applications, from campus security to product development, the legal framework surrounding biometric data collection and usage continues to evolve. The case represents one of multiple ongoing legal challenges addressing the intersection of facial recognition technology development and privacy protection regulations.

Sources: USA Herald

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December 9, 2024 – by Ali Nassar-Smith