Chicago Partner Rusty Perdew Quoted in Cook County Record on Implications of Facebook Case on Other BIPA Lawsuits

Chicago Partner Rusty Perdew, a member of the Firm’s Class Actions Practice Group, commented on implications of a Facebook class action lawsuit that said the company violated an Illinois privacy law by tagging people in photographs posted by other users on the social media platform. Perdew said, “The implications are limited for a couple reasons. First, the facts of this case are unique because the plaintiffs here claimed they did not know their biometric information was being taken because facial scans were allegedly being created from photographs without the plaintiffs’ knowledge.”

Perdew noted the court's refusal to dismiss may not apply to most BIPA lawsuits, saying “In most of the recent lawsuits, a plaintiff knows their biometric information is being taken and used because it involves in-person fingerprint scanning. So it’s not clear this decision will apply to most of the cases being filed... Defendants still have a number of other arguments to make, including that the alleged BIPA violation did not 'aggrieve' the plaintiff, which BIPA requires before a plaintiff can sue.”

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