Google wins dismissal of facial recognition lawsuit over biometric privacy act

Google just got an important lawsuit over facial recognition dismissed. As first reported by Bloomberg, the lawsuit has been dismissed by a state judge who found that the plaintiffs didn’t suffer “concrete injuries.” The Google lawsuit is one of three cases aimed at prominent tech companies that have allegedly violated the United States’ toughest biometric privacy law and it’s the first one to get dismissed.

The Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act has long been a huge obstacle for tech companies working on facial recognition initiatives. The law requires companies to obtain people’s explicit permission before they can make biometric scans of their bodies. Illinois citizens who feel their rights have been violated can file lawsuits under the act. Companies including Google, Snapchat, and Facebook all faced lawsuits initiated in 2015 and 2016 for allegedly violating the Illinois law.

The other lawsuits are still pending. In April, a federal judge ruled that Facebook must face a class action lawsuit from Illinois users over allegations that it used facial recognition technology photos without explicit user consent. The feature “Tag Suggestions” that offers users suggested people based on their faces in photos allegedly violates the Illinois law.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/29/18160432/google-facial-recognition-lawsuit-dismissal-illinois-privacy-act-snapchat-facebook