Apple Photos App Collects Biometrics Illinois BIPA Class Action

This class action claims that Apple, Inc. collects, stores, and uses biometrics, in violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), via its Photos App. The complaint alleges that Apple not only does not fulfill BIPA’s requirements when it collects the information but also that it profits from the biometrics, which the law prohibits. The plaintiff in this case is a minor identified only as Jane Doe.

The class for this action is comprised of two subclasses:

• Subclass 1 is all Illinois citizens whose faces appeared in one or more photos taken or stored on their own Apple devices or whose faces appeared in one or more photographs stored in their iCloud Photos Library between September 13, 2016 and the present.
• Subclass 2 is all Illinois citizens whose faces appeared in one or more photos taken or stored on an Apple Device other than their own or whose faces appeared in one or more photos stored in an iCloud Photos Library other than their own between September 13, 2016 and the present.

The complaint alleges that the “Photos App comes pre-installed on [Apple’s] phones, tablets, and computers[,]” “cannot be removed or modified,” and “automatically collects face Biometric Data from Apple Device users’ photographs.”

BIPA lays out conditions businesses must meet before they collect biometrics in Indiana:

• They must tell the subject in writing that their biometrics are being collected or stored.
• They must tell the subject in writing of the specific purpose and length of time for which their biometrics are being collected and stored.
• They must obtain a written release from the subject authorizing the collection or storage of their biometrics.

The business must also develop a written policy that is publicly available, with a retention schedule and guidelines for permanently destroying the biometrics when the original purpose for their collection, storage, or use has ended.

The complaint alleges that Apple did not do any of the above things, and that plaintiff Jane Doe is a minor and cannot legally give consent or authorization to anything on her own behalf.

Furthermore, the complaint quotes BIPA as saying, “No private entity in possession of a biometric identifier or biometric information may sell, lease, trade, or otherwise profit from a person’s or a customer’s biometric identifier or biometric information.”

But the complaint alleges that Apple does profit from the biometrics, saying that Apple “developed the face recognition ‘feature’ of its Photos App in order to competitively position its devices and software in the marketplace” and even advertises features involving facial recognition as advantages with its devices.

The complaint claims, “Users cannot disable the collection of Biometric Data, cannot limit what information is collected or from whom information is collected, cannot remove the People folder, and cannot delete the database of facial recognition information that [Apple] creates or any information in that database.” In fact, the complaint alleges that Apple’s licensing agreements “specifically prohibit users from modifying [Apple’s] software to prevent the collection of Biometric Data.”

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Privacy
Tags: BIPA, Biometric Data, Children/Minors, Contracts with Minors/Refusal to Allow Minors to Disaffirm, Profiting from Biometrics, Taking/Storing/Using Biometric Data, Your Privacy