Facebook Can’t Dodge Facial Recognition Privacy Suit

A federal judge denied Facebook’s efforts to reject a lawsuit that claims the social media giant violated Illinois law prohibiting companies from collecting biometric data without customer consent. The potential class action suit was filed in Illinois, but it was transferred to a federal court in San Francisco as per the terms of Facebook’s user agreement. Then Facebook argued that California law should apply to the case, since it is being heard there. No similar privacy or facial recognition laws have been enacted in California. The judge denied that motion. He stated that if he complied and took Facebook’s position, Illinois would “suffer a complete negation of its biometric privacy protections.”