Twitter Captured, Stored Illinois Users’ Biometric Data Without Consent, Class Action Says [DISMISSED]
Last Updated on July 2, 2024
Martell v. X Corp.
Filed: July 11, 2023 ◆§ 2023CH06416
A class action lawsuit claims X Corp., which owns and operates Twitter, has wrongfully captured, stored and used Illinois residents’ biometric data, including facial scans, without consent.
July 2, 2024 – X BIPA Lawsuit Dismissed; Plaintiff Can Try Again
The proposed class action lawsuit detailed on this page was dismissed on June 13, 2024 with leave for the plaintiff to amend the case.
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In a seven-page memo and order, U.S. District Judge Sunil R. Harjani granted X’s motion to dismiss the suit after finding that the plaintiff failed to allege that the PhotoDNA software scans individual facial geometries as it analyzes photographs on the social media platform for explicit content.
Instead, Judge Harjani pointed out, the plaintiff merely claimed that PhotoDNA scans photos during the hash creation process. The plaintiff did not put forth any factual allegations that suggested the software scans the faces in a photo to extract data that can be used to identify an individual, the judge found.
“While Plaintiff alleged that PhotoDNA scanned the photo to create a unique hash, Plaintiff did not allege facts indicating that the hash is a scan of face geometry, as opposed to merely a record of the photo,” the judge wrote. “Plaintiff’s allegations leave open the question of whether the hash is a unique representation of the entire photo or specific to the faces of the people in the picture.”
The Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) regulates the handling of residents’ biometric identifiers, such as retina or iris scans, fingerprints, voiceprints or scans of hand or face geometry. However, Judge Harjani highlighted, the statute specifically states that photographs do not fall under its definition of biometric identifiers.
Judge Harjani consequently ruled that the plaintiff failed to state a valid claim under the BIPA but gave the man the opportunity to file an amended complaint by July 18, 2024.
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A proposed class action lawsuit claims X Corp., which owns and operates Twitter, has wrongfully captured, stored and used Illinois residents’ biometric data, including facial scans, without consent.
Want to stay in the loop on class actions that matter to you? Sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter here.
The 16-page lawsuit says that as part of the defendant’s effort to detect and filter explicit images, the social media company has unlawfully collected and stored the facial scans of every person whose face appears in a photograph uploaded to Twitter.
The suit more specifically alleges that Twitter has run afoul of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act by capturing and storing users’ biometric information without notice or express consent and failing to provide policies that disclose how long it will retain their data and when it will be destroyed.
Since 2015, Twitter has used software called PhotoDNA to “police” pornographic and other explicit images uploaded to the platform, the case explains. Per the complaint, the software works by creating a “hash,” or unique digital signature, of each uploaded image that is then analyzed against other hashes. The image is then tagged by Twitter if determined to be explicit, the suit says.
The filing contends that the company stores hashes of all images uploaded to the platform, thereby maintaining the digital scans of every person whose face appears in a photo without their consent.
Despite this, the defendant has failed to notify Twitter users that it captures and stores their biometric information and has not disclosed any data retention or destruction policies, as required by law, the case claims.
The lawsuit looks to represent any Illinois residents whose biometric data was collected, stored or used by Twitter by way of its use of software to analyze uploaded images containing their faces.
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