• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Our Services
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Top Nav Social Icons

Mobile ID World

Mobile ID World

Identification Revolution

  • Mobile ID
    • What Is Mobile ID?
    • Identity Associations
    • Premier Partners
    • FAQ
  • News
  • Solutions
    • Behavioral
    • Facial Recognition
    • Fingerprint Biometrics
    • Iris Biometrics
    • Second Factor
    • Smart Cards
    • Smartphones
    • Vital
    • Voice
    • Wearable Tech
    • Other
  • Applications
    • Access Control
    • Cloud Technology
    • Commerce
    • Enterprise
    • Healthcare
    • Identification
    • Internet of Things
    • Law Enforcement
    • Strong Online Authentication
  • Exclusive
    • Interviews
    • Featured Articles
    • Podcasts
  • Companies
  • Events

Biometric Privacy Lawsuit Brought Against Instagram

August 18, 2020

Facebook is facing another potentially massive BIPA lawsuit. The news comes mere weeks after the social media giant offered a $650 million settlement in a class action lawsuit for failing to obtain proper consent before collecting and using the biometric information of its users.

Biometric Privacy Lawsuit Brought Against Instagram

The new class action suit concerns Instagram (which is owned by Facebook) rather than Facebook itself. It alleges that the photo sharing platform engaged in similarly deceptive practices to gather facial recognition data, both from those who signed up for the platform, and from non-Instagram users who appeared in photos uploaded to the site. Instagram did not start informing users about its use of biometric data until the beginning of this year, while those who have not signed up for the platform have never had the opportunity to provide their consent.  

“Once Facebook captures its Instagram users’ protected biometrics, it uses them to bolster its facial recognition abilities across all of its products, including the Facebook application, and shares this information among various entities,” reads the complaint. “Facebook does all of this without providing any of the notices or disclosures required by Illinois law.”

The new lawsuit was filed with the Superior Court of California in Redwood City. However, plaintiff Kelley Whalen is an Illinois resident, and is alleging that the company’s actions violate that state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The original Facebook lawsuit was filed in Illinois, but was allowed to continue after it was transferred to Northern California. 

For its part, Facebook flatly denied the allegations, and claimed that Instagram does not use facial recognition in the same manner as the parent company.

“This suit is baseless,” said Spokesperson Stephanie Otway. “Instagram doesn’t use face recognition technology.”

Whalen v. Facebook seeks damages for as many as 100 million users, each of whom could be entitled to anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 under the terms of the Illinois law. Those numbers would point to a settlement in the area of about $500 million.

Sources: National Post, Business Insider

(Originally posted on FindBiometrics)

Filed Under: Industry News Tagged With: biometrics, biometrics lawsuits, BIPA, BIPA lawsuits, face biometrics, Facebook, facial recognition, Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, Information Privacy Act, Instagram, privacy issues

Related News & Articles

Apple Adds Voice Recognition to HomePod Speaker

OwnID WooCommerce Plugin Signals Rapid Adoption of Passkey Security

South Africa Creates Timeline for Digital Driver’s Licenses

Primary Sidebar

Learn About Mobile ID and Aviation

Tweets

Sponsored Links

facetec logo

FaceTec’s patented, industry-leading 3D Face Authentication software anchors digital identity, creating a chain of trust from user onboarding to ongoing authentication on all modern smart devices and webcams. FaceTec’s 3D FaceMaps™ make trusted, remote identity verification finally possible. As the only technology backed by a persistent spoof bounty program and NIST/iBeta Certified Liveness Detection, FaceTec is the global standard for Liveness and 3D Face Matching with millions of users on six continents in financial services, border security, transportation, blockchain, e-voting, social networks, online dating and more. www.facetec.com

FACEPHI is a global leader in Facial Recognition technology and in Mobile Biometrics technologies. With a strong concentration in the financial sector, FacePhi’s product is rapidly becoming a service used by banks all over the world. Its implementation doesn’t just save money, it is also a way to attract clients and build loyalty, while increasing the security of transactions for both the customer and the business. To learn more about FacePhi, visit https://www.facephi.com/en/

Recent Posts

  • Worldcoin Aims to Support Digital ID Development With $5M Grant Program
  • NIST Should Be Tasked With mDL Standards, Experts Tell Congressional Hearing
  • Circle Security Leverages Mobile Biometrics for ‘Credential-Free Authentication’
  • Czech Legislation Paves Path to Mobile ID
  • ECOWAS Seeks Partner for Digital ID Roadmap

Footer

  • About Us
  • Company Directory
  • Advertise With Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Archives
  • CCPA: Do not sell my personal info.

Follow Us

Copyright © 2023 MobileIDWorld