Apple faces a class action worth up to $32.5 billion over the collection of biometric information from users of its Photos app, after the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on Thursday denied the company’s appeal against a ruling certifying the class.
As many as 6.5 million consumers in the US state of Illinois could seek $5,000 each in damages, on the basis that Apple illegally collected their biometric information through a facial-recognition feature without proper notice, consent or retention policies.
The claimants allege Apple collected their biometric data without consent in violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, a state law passed in 2008 owing to concerns about how emerging technology was increasingly collecting and using biometric identifiers such as retina or iris scans, fingerprints, voiceprints or faceprints that are biologically unique to an individual.
The law bans companies from collecting a person’s biometric information unless they first provide notice and obtain the person’s written consent.
Plaintiffs in the class action allege that Apple’s Photos app, which comes pre-installed on Apple devices, automatically uses facial-recognition technology to scan individual faces and create a unique “faceprint” for each person detected in the user’s photo library.
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