Louis Vuitton North America Virtual Try-On Illinois BIPA Class Action

Companies appear to be using consumers’ biometrics more and more often, for anything from timekeeping to virtual try-on applications. One such company, says the complaint for this class action, is Louis Vuitton North America, Inc. (LVNA), which the complaint alleges uses facial scans to allow consumer to virtually try on its luxury eyewear, without fulfilling the requirement of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).

The class for this action is all persons whose biometrics were captured by LVNA by the virtual try-on tool on its websites, including us.louisvuitton.com, while they were living in Illinois, during the applicable statute of limitations.

According to the complaint, biometrics—such as fingerprints or facial geometry—are unique in that they cannot be changed or replaced if they are stolen or compromised. BIPA was an attempt by the state of Illinois to require certain basic protections for consumers when companies wish to collect, store, or use their biometrics.

More than half of consumers are comfortable with fingerprint scans, the complaint alleges, referring to a Forbes article on biometrics and privacy, but they “have substantial privacy concerns regarding the use of facial scanning.” The complaint cites the instance of a company called Clearview AI, which the complaint alleges, “scraped user photos from social media companies’ databases, and used facial-recognition technology on those photos to compile a database for secret and illicit surveillance purposes.”

The complaint alleges that “typical consumers are not equipped to defend themselves from large corporations bent on acquiring and monetizing their most private, unchangeable information,” and that BIPA has given them a tool to begin to do that.

When consumers visit the LVNA website, they are invited to virtually try on its luxury eyewear. To do this, the user must only take a photo with their phone camera or upload a photo of themselves. But the complaint alleges that LVNA’s virtual try-on tool “collects detailed and sensitive biometric identifiers and information, including complete facial scans … without first obtaining their consent or informing them that this information is being collected.”

According to the complaint, LVNA, as a private entity, violates BIPA by not disclosing to those who use the virtual try-on tool that their biometric information will be collected, and also by not disclosing the specific purpose for which their information is being collected and the length of time for which the biometrics will be collected, stored, or used.

Also, the complaint alleges, LVNA does not ask for the consumers’ written authorization to proceed with this collection, storage, or use.

A further requirement of BIPA that LVNA does not fulfill, the complaint claims, is that the company does not have a written, publicly-available retention schedule and guidelines for permanently destroying the collected biometrics.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Privacy
Tags: BIPA, Taking/Storing/Using Biometric Data, Your Privacy