Apple will face a class-action lawsuit alleging it violated Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), in a case that could cost the company more than $30 billion. Here are the details.
Apple on the hook for up to $32.5 billion
In March 2020, a group of roughly 10 Apple users filed a putative class action accusing Apple Photos’ “People” feature of violating Illinois’ BIPA, which gives citizens “the right to control their biometric information by requiring notice before collection and giving them the power to say no by withholding consent.”
BIPA allows for damages of $1,000 for each negligent violation and $5,000 for each intentional or reckless violation.
This is the same law that led to a lawsuit against Meta ending in a $650 million settlement over Facebook’s facial-recognition system, which scanned photos to suggest people for users to tag, as well as a separate $68.5 million settlement over allegations that Instagram collected and stored users’ biometric data without consent.
