Class Action Claims CharlotteTilbury.com ‘Virtual Try-On’ Tool Unlawfully Captures Illinois Users’ Biometric Data [UPDATE]

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Charlotte Tilbury Beauty, Inc. and parent company Islestarr Holdings Ltd. face a proposed class action lawsuit that alleges the companies have captured without consent Illinois consumers’ biometric facial scans through a “virtual try-on” feature on CharlotteTilbury.com.

The 22-page complaint claims that the “Charlotte’s Virtual Try On” tool on the cosmetic company’s website scans a user’s facial geometry and creates a “unique digital representation of the face and its measurements” without the visitor’s informed written consent and in violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). According to the suit, the defendants have also breached the BIPA by failing to provide guidelines on how long users’ biometric data will be stored, when it will be destroyed and by neglecting to inform consumers that their information is subsequently disclosed to third parties affiliated with the companies.

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Shoppers on CharlotteTilbury.com are able to virtually preview how they look wearing certain cosmetics, such as lipstick, blush, and eye makeup, by clicking the “TRY IT ON ME” button found beside applicable products, the case explains. After a user selects this button and allows the site access to his or her webcam, the feature uses the camera to take a real-time scan of the person’s “unique facial geometry” and create the “face template” on which the cosmetic product is then overlaid, the complaint says.

The defendants’ own facial recognition technology, Makeup AI, is used to power the “Charlotte’s Virtual Try On” feature of the site, the filing relays. Per the lawsuit, the scan of facial data—considered a biometric identifier by the BIPA—is obtained without users’ knowledge or consent, and no written policy on the site discloses how long the data will be stored or if it will be destroyed.

The suit adds that the companies also neglect to inform consumers that their biometric information is shared with affiliates of the Charlotte Tilbury group for the defendants’ commercial benefit.

The plaintiff, a Chicago resident, has used the “virtual try-on” feature on CharlotteTilbury.com numerous times in the past three years, the case says. By doing so, her biometric data was obtained by the defendants, the complaint alleges. Like other visitors to the website, the woman neither gave her consent nor was informed of how long her information would be stored, or that it would be shared, the filing claims.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone residing in Illinois whose biometric data was collected, stored, disclosed, sold, traded, or profited from by Charlotte Tilbury Beauty, Inc. and Islestarr Holdings Ltd. through the use of the “Charlotte’s Virtual Try On” tool on CharlotteTilbury.com within the applicable statute of limitations period.

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