Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Wednesday April 18 2018, @03:26PM   Printer-friendly
from the time-to-'face'-the-music dept.

Facebook must face a class action lawsuit over its use of facial recognition technology, a California judge has ruled.

The lawsuit alleges that Facebook gathered biometric information without users' explicit consent.

It involves the "tag suggestions" technology, which spots users' friends in uploaded photos; the lawsuit says this breaches Illinois state law.

Facebook said the case had no merit and it would fight it vigorously.

On Monday, US District Judge James Donato ruled to certify a class of Facebook users - a key legal hurdle for a class action suit.

The class of people in question is Facebook users "in Illinois for whom Facebook created and stored a face template after June 7, 2011", according to the court order.

In a successful class action suit, any person in that group could be entitled to compensation.

In his order, Judge Donato wrote: "Facebook seems to believe... statutory damages could amount to billions of dollars."

The decision comes days after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced intensive questioning by US lawmakers over the company's collection and use of user data.

June 2011 was the date on which Facebook rolled out its "tag suggestions" feature.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Justin Case on Wednesday April 18 2018, @03:53PM

    by Justin Case (4239) on Wednesday April 18 2018, @03:53PM (#668620) Journal

    You: I want to opt out.

    FB: OK, who is it that wants to opt out?

    You: (provides some identifying information)

    Seriously cannot see the problem here?

    It must be opt-IN! Default deny.

     
     

    Here's a photo of my left big toe. Please do not hit it with a hammer. Also, here's a photo of my right big toe. Please do not hit it with a hammer. Also, here's a photo of my left pinkie. Please do not hit it with a hammer. Also, here's...

    Oh, and google, here's the same photos. And Apple, have a look at these too. And who else?

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +4  
       Insightful=4, Total=4
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   5