LegalTrend: How Secure Are Your Biometrics on Facebook?

Privacy class action lawsuits in Illinois assert that Facebook violates a 2008 Illinois law protecting a peron’s biometric information with its facial recognition tagging software. 

The nuts and bolts of the Illinois law:

• Biometric Information Privacy Act makes it illegal for a company to:
• collect or access customers’ biometric identifiers
  • without first informing them in writing about what’s being collected,
  • how the biometrics are being used,and
  • how long biometrics are being stored
•  requires companies get a written release from those whose data is being collecting
• statutory damages of $1,000 for negligent violations, and $5,000 for those that are “intentional and reckless.”

The Recorder