Apple faces $32.5B lawsuit over Photos app's facial recognition
Apple faces a $32.5 billion class-action lawsuit over allegedly collecting biometric data from its Photos app without user consent.Summary
Apple is facing a massive $32.5 billion class-action lawsuit in Illinois, accusing the company of collecting biometric data from photos without user consent. The legal action specifically targets the Photos app on iPhones, which allegedly uses facial recognition technology to scan and create unique "faceprints" for individuals appearing in images. The lawsuit claims that this process occurs without user consent and that data is synchronized across devices using iCloud, which is presumed to include biometric data. This practice is said to violate the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, a state law that requires companies to obtain consent from individuals to collect or disclose personal biometric identifiers. Apple has attempted to dismiss the lawsuit, questioning whether its processes count as biometric identifiers and insisting that privacy safeguards prevent the vectors used to organize photo albums from recreating a face or being linked to a person's name. However, an Illinois judge ruled in June that the lawsuit met class action requirements. The suit has been filed on behalf of 6.5 million consumers in Illinois.
(Source：NewsBytes)