Ninth Circuit Leaves in Place Case that Allows Users to Sue Facebook for Face-Scans

October 23, 2019

A federal appeals court has let stand a ruling that users can sue Facebook for collecting and using their facial images. The court previously held in Patel v. Facebook that an Illinois biometrics law protects "concrete privacy interests" and violations of the law "pose a material risk of harm to those privacy interests." EPIC filed an amicus brief in the case, arguing that the violation of a privacy law is sufficient for users to sue a company. EPIC has also long advocated for limits on the use of biometric data and has opposed Facebook's use of facial recognition software. EPIC and others recently called for a global moratorium on facial recognition.

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