Samsung Biometric Privacy Case: Join Illinois Residents Taking Action

If you’re an Illinois resident and you keep photos on your Samsung Galaxy phone or tablet, it’s possible your privacy rights are being violated.

Allegations have surfaced that Samsung is illegally collecting and storing the facial scans of millions of Illinois residents whose faces appear in photos taken with certain model phones and tablets.

How Is Samsung Allegedly Breaking Illinois Biometric Law?

Samsung has been accused of quietly running sophisticated facial recognition technology in the background of its Gallery app to create face templates (that is, highly detailed maps of individuals’ distinctive facial features) without the consent of the customer, let alone others in the photographs.

Because a person’s facial features, like fingerprints, are unique, Illinois lawmakers enacted a law that requires companies to take certain steps before they can collect this data. It is this law, the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), that Samsung has been accused of violating.

It has been alleged that the company failed to meet all of the above requirements. Samsung has been accused of further violating the BIPA by failing to develop and publish a retention schedule and guidelines for permanently destroying the biometric information.

Is Samsung Facing a Class Action Lawsuit Over the Security Issue?

Yes. At least one proposed class action lawsuit has been filed in Illinois alleging Samsung violated the BIPA when it collected, created and stored facial templates from photos in the Gallery app without users’ consent.

Samsung has argued in the case, however, that consumers cannot bring a class action lawsuit over the alleged biometric violations because they agreed to arbitrate any claims against the company when they purchased and set up their devices.

This is why attorneys have decided to handle the matter on a “mass arbitration” basis.  

What Is Mass Arbitration?

First off, normally arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution in which two parties resolve a dispute outside of the courtroom. Instead of a judge or jury ruling on the matter, a neutral third-party arbitrator will decide the case.

Mass arbitration occurs when hundreds or potentially thousands of consumers bring individual arbitration claims against the same company, at the same time and over the same problem – such as this potential biometric privacy violation. Because handling individual arbitration disputes can be costly and time consuming, some companies may choose to quickly settle any outstanding claims rather than spend the time and money needed to resolve them.

Which Samsung Galaxy Devices Qualify?

How Much Could I Get?

While there are no guarantees, those who sign up for the mass arbitration could potentially be entitled to as much as $5,000.

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