FaceTec pulled into BIPA case; Yoti pushes for a federal judge

Biometrics developer FaceTec is the latest company to be hauled into court for allegedly violating the U.S. state of Illinois’ biometric privacy law.

Meanwhile, biometric identification company Yoti is trying to find a more sympathetic venue for its own Biometric Information Privacy Act putative class action.

FaceTec, which provides software for checking the identity of people online – including those participating in dating sites – faces a possible class action. A pair of Illinois residents filed the suit last month in Cook County (Ill.) Circuit Court for allegedly breaking BIPA.

The law requires private entities get express consent before collecting any biometric identifiers and to make clear its data management policies.

In the latest case (2022CH12036), FaceTec performs advanced identification to create three-dimensional face map.

One of the two named plaintiffs submitted a video selfie to a dating site without giving her consent to have any information from it collected, analyzed or stored.

Yoti’s case (3:22-CV-03105) involves a request to move from the Circuit Court of Williamson County in southern Illinois to a U.S. district court.

Yoti’s attorneys say they should be able to argue their case in a federal court because the company is not an Illinois citizen and the damages sought exceed $75,000.

It is not known when a decision about the venue is expected.

Article Topics

biometric identifiers  |  Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA)  |  biometrics  |  data privacy  |  face biometrics  |  FaceTec  |  lawsuits  |  Yoti