Illinois residents bring class-action lawsuit against Snapchat. Here's why
Social media app Snapchat is being accused of violating Illinois privacy laws, according to a class-action lawsuit filed earlier this month.
The 33-page complaint was filed May 11 in United States District Court in Rockford by northern Illinois residents Adrian Coss and Maribel Campos. They allege Snapchat violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by storing and sharing their personal information without permission.
“Defendant has violated BIPA because its technology works by imaging a user’s face to capture and utilize a user’s biometric identifiers and/or biometric information without a user’s informed written consent,” the suit says.
Update:Snapchat settles Illinois class-action lawsuit. Here's what you need to know
The allegations center largely on Snapchat’s photo filter feature. Each time a user takes a selfie or uses a filter, that person’s facial features are scanned.
The complaint states that Snapchat failed to provide users with disclosures regarding their rights under BIPA before they collected their personal information. The complaint aims to cover all Illinois residents and since BIPA is an Illinois law, the claim only applies to state residents.
Exact damages sought aren’t known, although Illinois law states that citizens can collect up to $5,000 in civil penalties per violation.
So how can you join the lawsuit or be considered part of the class-action? There's nothing you can do just yet. It could be months or years before the case moves forward and settles, if it even does so. At that point, members would be notified of the settlement and how to file a claim.
The complaint comes after Facebook agreed to pay $650 million to millions of users for violating privacy rights on its platform.
Jim Hagerty: jhagerty@rrstar.com; @jimhagerty
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Illinois Snapchat lawsuit: Residents accuse app of privacy violations
