A pair of new class actions - filed by the same named plaintiff and the same legal team - have targeted the operators of the MeetMe and Luxy apps under Illinois' biometrics privacy law.
On Aug. 14-15, plaintiff Frank Herin, through attorneys Michael L. Fradin, of Fradin Law, and James L. Simon, of Simon Law Co., both of Ohio, filed two separate lawsuits in Cook County Circuit Court against defendants The Meet Group and Luxy Limited.
The companies operate the MeetMe and Luxy apps, respectively, offering networking and dating connection services for wealthy users.
The lawsuits accuse the app operators of improperly scanning faces of users in photos uploaded to the apps to verify their identities without first obtaining authorization of providing notices required under the Illinois BIPA law.
According to their website, The Meet Group is a top provider of livestreaming video and a creator of economy solutions for a number of highly utilized social apps, including the MeetMe app. They are involved across industries, including social connection apps like MeetMe.
According to the complaint, Hedin signed up for MeetMe to make social connections, primarily for the purpose of dating. As part of the account creation and verification process, MeetMe app requires its users to upload their personal image for authentication and to make it available for other potential connections
Like MeetMe, Luxy bills itself as a unique referral service, targeting an elite, upscale virtual community to connect singles interested in cultivating relationships with wealthy individuals. They also require members to submit a headshot for authentication purposes and to share with its members in order to foster new relationships.
In both cases, each business entity is similarly accused of collecting its members facial data to utilize the facial geometry data for authentication, without gaining explicit written consent, providing publicly available information detailing how the data was collected, stored, used, and ultimately its schedule for destruction.
As with the thousands of other complaints filed under BIPA , similar lawsuits generally accuse the defendant entities of requiring the collection of biometric date which can include fingerprint scans, facial recognition, retinal scans, even voice recordings, without complying with the law's notice and consent provisions.
However, such alleged technical violations of the BIPA law can prove costly, as the law allows plaintiffs to demand damages of $1,000-$5,000 per violation.
But those damages can be multiplied numerous times across potentially thousands or even millions of app users, as the Illinois Supreme Court has ruled that violations under the law can be defined as each time a company uses an app or other tech to scan a users' biometric identifiers, not just the first time. Thus, damages under the BIPA law could quickly soar into the many millions or even billions of dollars, should a case go to trial.
Indeed, justices on the Illinois Supreme Court have criticized their colleagues' legal reasoning, noting it was unreasonable to believe lawmakers intended for such astronomical and potentially ruinous damages to be demanded of businesses for mere technical violations of a law.
Hedin and his lawyers are similarly seeking up to $5,000 per violation in damages, plus attorney fees.