Wella Facing Biometric Privacy Lawsuit in Illinois Over Facial Scans

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A proposed class action alleges the “Virtual Try-on” feature on haircare company Wella’s website illegally collects, stores and uses Illinois consumers’ biometric facial data without consent.

The 18-page case claims that Wella Operations US LLC has run afoul of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by failing to obtain express written permission before capturing and retaining scans of users’ facial geometries through the Virtual Try-on tool on Wella.com/International.

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The online tool lets consumers see how certain Wella hair products would look on their heads, either by uploading a photo of themselves or by activating a user’s webcam to view a real-time image, the complaint explains. Wella has embedded in its webpages an application created by Perfect Corp., called YouCam Makeup, that collects and processes a user’s facial geometry as they use the feature, the filing says.

“These facial-geometry scans are used to identify the shape and features of the user’s face to accurately, and virtually, overlay the hair products onto the user’s facial image,” the suit reads.

However, the case contends that Wella neither informs users that their facial scans are being collected nor asks for their permission. The plaintiff, an Illinois consumer, claims she did not understand that the Virtual Try-On tool would collect her biometric data, and she would not have used the feature had she known that this would occur.

Under the BIPA, private companies must obtain adequate informed written consent before collecting, using or storing an Illinois individual’s biometric identifiers, which include retina or iris scans, fingerprints, voiceprints, or scans of hand or face geometry, the complaint explains. 

The lawsuit relays that the BIPA also requires companies to inform consumers of the specific purpose and length of time for which their biometric data is being collected, publish a publicly available retention schedule and guidelines for how and when the data will be destroyed and disclose that it may transmit their biometric information to a third party.

Wella fails to comply with any of these requirements, the complaint alleges.

According to the case, the BIPA was enacted to provide special protections in light of “the ever-increasing prevalence and proliferation of biometric information collection.” Biometric data are especially sensitive personal identifiers, the case relays, because they cannot be changed if compromised, unlike a Social Security number, for instance. 

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in Illinois whose biometric identifiers were captured by Wella through the Virtual Try-On tool on the company’s websites, including Wella.com/international.

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