Personal Avatar Platform Ready Player Me Collected Illinois Users’ Face Scans Without Consent, Class Action Says

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims Ready Player Me, a personalized avatar creation platform, has unlawfully captured, stored and used Illinois residents’ facial scans without consent.

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The 23-page privacy lawsuit alleges the Estonia-based platform and its creator, Wolfprint 3D, Inc., have violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by collecting and storing users’ biometric information without notice or express consent.

As the case tells it, ReadyPlayer.Me allows users to create a personal “avatar”—that is, a unique digital likeness—that can be used as a character on other web-based platforms, virtual reality apps and games, business tools and more.

Per the complaint, a user can generate this customizable character by uploading a selfie, which the platform’s artificial intelligence (AI) software uses to “magically create[] a personal avatar” that resembles them. Once a photo is uploaded, the AI technology scans the consumer’s facial geometry and uses it to digitally render an avatar with their physical characteristics, the filing says.

However, the lawsuit contends that the platform provides this service without complying with the BIPA’s clear requirements that govern the collection and use of biometric information.

According to the suit, the companies have also breached the state law by lacking publicly available data retention and destruction policies and failing to inform consumers for what purpose their biometrics are gathered and stored.

The companies’ allegedly unlawful conduct puts the private information of thousands of Illinois residents at risk, the suit charges.

“If [the defendants’] database of website users’ face geometry were to fall into the wrong hands, by data breach or otherwise, individuals to whom these sensitive biometric identifiers belong could have their identities stolen or their financial and other highly personal information breached and used for nefarious purposes,” the case notes.

The Ready Player Me privacy lawsuit looks to represent anyone in Illinois who had their facial geometry captured, obtained, stored and/or used by the platform or Wolfprint 3D in Illinois.

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