A class action lawsuit is pending against Oklahoma-based Candid Color Systems Inc. for alleged violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). Candid Colors provides marketing services to photographers, including photo-matching technology that allows consumers to identify all photos taken of a specific student at a graduation ceremony.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, alleges that Candid Color collected and used biometric data from individuals captured at high school and college graduation ceremonies without their consent, in violation of BIPA. The lawsuit alleges that Candid Color used student biometric identifiers to identify students without first informing the individuals and obtaining their consent before collection, as required by BIPA.
The complaint also alleges that Candid Color profited from the biometric data it collected from students in violation of BIPA and failed to publicly disclose its policies regarding the collection and destruction of biometric data.
This is an interesting lawsuit: It was filed days after a similar lawsuit against Candid Color was dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, which found that Candid Color did not have sufficient contacts in Illinois to establish jurisdiction. The plaintiffs seek to represent a class of Illinois residents whose biometric data was collected by Candid Color. The plaintiffs are seeking statutory damages of $5,000 per reckless or intentional BIPA violation and $1,000 per negligent violation. We’ll see if this lawsuit goes forward and how the court applies the recent changes to BIPA made by the Illinois Governor’s bill amending BIPA.
