Facetune Editor App Collects Consumers’ Biometric Data Without Consent, Class Action Says [UPDATE]

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A proposed class action alleges Lightricks’ Facetune Editor photo-editing app illegally collects, stores and uses consumers’ biometric data without consent.

The 22-page case claims that Facetune, one of the most popular iOS and Android apps, has violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by failing to obtain express written permission before capturing and retaining users’ biometric information, including their facial geometry, features, patterns and expressions.

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Once users upload pictures from their phones to the app, Facetune uses “complex algorithms” and “artificial intelligence” to scan and collect their facial geometries, the suit says. The case explains that consumers can then choose from an array of editing options to , for example, remove blemishes, whiten teeth, smoothen skin, or fix red-eye.  

Lightricks even states on its app that “we scan all your images in your camera roll, and we may collect and process information on the … location and characteristics of faces or other face parts (eyes, lip, etc.) that appear in an image or video, and the number, estimated age and gender of people in the image or video,” the complaint relays.

The filing stresses that the BIPA was enacted in 2008 to protect Illinois consumers from the harms associated with the unauthorized collection of biometric data.

Under the BIPA, private entities are prohibited from obtaining consumers’ biometrics unless they notify the individual in writing of the “specific purpose and length of term for which such biometric identifiers or information are being collected, stored, and used,” the suit says. To store biometrics, companies must also receive a prior written release from the consumer and maintain publicly available written retention schedules and guidelines for permanently destroying biometric data, the case explains.

Per the complaint, Lightricks fails to fulfill the BIPA’s basic consent and disclosure requirements. The filing asserts that after a consumer downloads Facetune or signs up for a subscription, at no point are they asked to agree to Lightricks’ privacy policy and, thus, do not affirmatively consent to the collection of their biometric data. 

Additionally, Lightricks fails to maintain a written retention or destruction policy for users’ biometric data, as it states in its privacy policy that the company retains consumers’ data “for as long as it is reasonably necessary to provide you with our Services,” the suit contends.

The case argues that Lightricks has illegally collected the biometric data of thousands of Illinoisans, including minors under the age of 13. Even though Lightricks’ privacy policy states that the app is only for ages 13 and older, the suit contends that the company has failed to include a method for obtaining verifiable consent from the parents or guardians of children, and it has even knowingly advertised on the Apple App Store that Facetune is suitable for children as young as four.

Likewise, the plaintiffs, three Illinois parents, allege that Lightricks has collected the biometric data of their children, ages four, 10 and 13, who have used Facetune to edit photos of themselves.

The lawsuit looks to cover Illinois residents whose biometric data was captured, collected, received or otherwise obtained and/or stored by Lightricks through the Facetune Editor app during the applicable statute of limitations period.

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