- A new lawsuit accuses Instagram of collecting biometric data from people without their permission in violation of a state law.
- Last month, Facebook – which owns Instagram – offered $ 650 million to settle a similar lawsuit alleging that the photo tagging of Facebook collects biometric data without the consent of users.
- Under the law, Facebook could face up to $ 5,000 per violation for as many as 100 million Instagram users, totaling half a trillion dollars.
- A Facebook spokesman called the pack “baseless” and said Instagram did not use face recognition.
- Visit the Business Insider website for more stories.
Instagram is accused of illegally retrieving biometric data from people without their knowledge or consent in a new class action lawsuit filed against Facebook, Instagram’s parent company.
The lawsuit, Whalen v. Facebook claims that Instagram has a face tagging tool that uses face recognition to identify people and create a “face template” that is stored in their database. While Instagram discloses this practice in the Terms of Service, the court claims that the tool automatically displays the faces of people in the messages of other users, even if they do not use Instagram and do not agree with the terms of service.
That practice violates a state law in Illinois that prohibits companies from collecting biometric data from people – such as a face recognition scan – without their knowledge or consent, the lawsuit alleges.
“Once Facebook has established the protected biometrics of Instagram users, it uses them to support its face recognition capabilities in all its products, including the Facebook application, and shares this information among various entities. Facebook does all this without any of ” the required notices or disclosures required by law in Illinois, “the plaintiff wrote in her complaint.
In a statement to Business Insider, Facebook spokeswoman Stephanie Otway said Instagram does not use face recognition in the way the Facebook app does.
“This suit is basic. Instagram does not use Face Recognition technology,” Otway said.
Facebook is already dealing with lawsuits that stem from the law in Illinois. Last month, the company offered to pay $ 650 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that a similar face-tagging tool was deployed on Facebook users without their permission.
The new process of class-action Instagram seeks damage for as many as 100 million Instagram users. Under Illinois law, Facebook could be forced to pay $ 1,000 to $ 5,000 per violation, meaning full damages could reach $ 500 billion if Facebook is found responsible.
Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
