Rockford Sun

Illinoisans can sue Google after it was found Google Photos used users’ photos to automatically identify them — which goes against the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.

“Eligible Illinois residents can now file against Google for privacy violations,” Rep. Joe Sosnowski (R-Rockford) posted on Facebook.

TechCrunch reported Illinois residents Steven Vance and Tim Janecyk said their photos were used in IBM’s “Diversity in Faces” database and for training facial recognition systems without their consent by Alphabet (the parent of Google), Amazon and Microsoft.

Sosnowski shared a link to a story on NBC5 Chicago in his Facebook post.

The lawsuit, which mirrors one recently settled with Facebook that resulted in many residents receiving checks last month, claimed the company violated the Illinois BIPA by “collecting and storing biometric data of individuals who, while residing in Illinois, appeared in a photograph in the photo-sharing and storage service known as Google Photos, without proper notice and consent.”

A settlement agreement was reached in the case earlier this year; now, eligible residents can file their claims. Google did not immediately respond to NBC 5’s request for comment, but did not admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement agreement and denied all claims made in the lawsuit.

The Verge reported Google paid $100 million to settle the lawsuit.

The settlement stems from a class-action lawsuit over one of its facial recognition features in Google Photos (via Gizmodo). The complaint alleges Google’s face grouping tool, which automatically identifies your face in photos and videos uploaded to Photos, violates Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).

Illinois Policy reported a federal district court in Chicago rejected Google wanting to dismiss the lawsuit. 

Illinois’ Biometric Privacy Act prohibits private sector companies and institutions from collecting biometric data from unsuspecting citizens in the state or online, no matter where the business is based. Data cannot be sold, transferred or traded. Unlike any other state, citizens can sue for alleged violations, which has sparked hundreds of David-and-Goliath legal battles against some of the world’s most powerful companies.

If a company is found to have violated Illinois law, citizens can collect civil penalties up to $5,000 per violation compounded by the number of people affected and days involved. No state regulatory agency is involved in enforcement.