FEDERAL COURT RULES THAT CLASS ACTION CAN PROCEED AGAINST FACEBOOK FOR USE OF FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a class action against Facebook, by its users, concerning the company's use of facial recognition technology, can proceed. Facebook users in Illinois have brought the action for alleged violation of the Biometric Information Privacy Act, a state law which requires consent, and has additional mandatory aspects regarding bioletric data.The District Court certified the case as a class action, and Facebook appealed; The 9th Circuit affirmed,

Facebook's position is that data collection took place outside of the State of Illinois, and therefore outside the jurisdiction of the law. The Court held that it was reasonable to expect that the law was meant to protect Illinois residents, even if some relevant collection activities occurred outside the state. The class action will now proceed at the trial court level.

Readers who wish to review the 24-page opinion may access the complete text of Nimesh Patel vs. Facebook, Inc. here.