Parents in Alabama have filed a class action lawsuit against Facebook executives, accusing them of greed for profiting off of kids’ personal data, including biometrics. The lawsuit also accuses Facebook of violating antitrust laws and a conspiracy to illegally profit from the “digital dossiers” of children.
We obtained a copy of the lawsuit for you here.
The lawsuit argues that Facebook, which has a data center in Huntsville, Alabama, amassed profits through the collection, storage, and analyses of kids’ personal data.
It further argues that the company’s recent decisions to destroy some of the hundreds of millions of biometric facial templates does not undo the harms done in the past.
This case could be another blow for Facebook, now Meta. Last year, the company agreed to pay $650 million in settlement in a class action suit filed in Illinois. The plaintiffs claimed that the company used facial recognition to collect and analyze the photos of its users for profit without permission.
In the Alabama case, the plaintiffs want Facebook to pay $32 billion to a national class of 285 million minors. The company should also pay $240 million to a smaller class in Alabama, according to the complaint.
This case appears to be very important for the plaintiffs because even after Meta deletes biometric data, in this case face images, they are still in the possession of other parties. Additionally, biometrics, especially faces, cannot be easily changed once stolen, leaked, or misused.
