Facebook to appeal to Supreme Court for biometric privacy suit dismissal

Facebook will appeal to the Supreme Court in its Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) suit, seeking to have the potential multi-billion dollar class action dismissed, MediaPost reports.

“The Supreme Court should have the chance to weigh in … before this multi-billion-dollar case goes to trial,” the company said in a motion filed Thursday with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Ninth Circuit recently rejected Facebook’s motion to have the whole court hear its argument that the case should be dismissed for lack of standing in federal court.

Facebook says it plans to petition the Supreme Court on an “expedited basis,” and that it expects the Supreme Court to decide whether to review its case by early next year.

As this happens, engagement by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce with congressional leadership is part of an effort to turn the legal tide that is building up against face recognition, between law suits, proposed and recently exacted state and local laws, and talk of a moratorium at the federal level, CPO Magazine writes.

An open letter from the Chamber, the SIA, and other organizations to House and Senate leaders from both parties urges them to consider the positive impacts of facial recognition, and emphasizes the variety of ways in which it is used. A moratorium, according to the letter, could have unintended consequences for innovation and security, and halt the technology’s continuing improvement. The Chamber also submitted an amicus brief supporting Facebook’s denied motion to re-argue for the dismissal of its BIPA case before the Ninth Circuit Court.

While data breach laws at the state level generally do not explicitly deal with biometrics, some, including Florida, have introduced proposals for new biometric privacy legislation.

Article Topics

Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA)  |  biometrics  |  data protection  |  Facebook  |  facial recognition  |  legislation  |  privacy