Judge greenlights multi-billion-dollar class action over Apple Photos’ face recognition
Apple will face a class-action lawsuit alleging it violated Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), in a case that could cost the company more than $30 billion. Here are the details.
A class-action lawsuit has been approved by a judge, alleging Apple's violation of Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) in connection with its Photos app's "People" feature. This potential legal action could result in Apple paying over $30 billion in damages. The lawsuit was initiated by approximately ten Apple users in March 2020, who argued that the "People" feature violated BIPA, a law that grants citizens control over their biometric data by requiring notice before collection and providing the power to withhold consent.
Similar legal actions have resulted in significant settlements, such as Meta's $650 million settlement over its facial-recognition system and Instagram's $68.5 million settlement over alleged biometric data collection without consent. Apple has faced numerous amendments to the complaint, years of discovery, and several attempts to dismiss the claims, before the court ultimately certified the class in June.
The plaintiffs seek to represent roughly 6.5 million Illinois citizens, divided into three proposed classes: Local Device Class, iCloud Subclass, and iCloud Faceprint Subclass. If Apple is found liable, it may face a damages bill of $32.5 billion. Although Apple has requested an immediate appeal of the certification order, that request has been denied, allowing the lawsuit to proceed to further proceedings in the district court, where plaintiffs will need to prove Apple's BIPA violation before any damages can be awarded. For more Apple news, visit 9to5Mac on YouTube.
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