After a $650M settlement in a biometric data collection case last month, Facebook faces a new suit alleging Instagram collects biometric data without consent
Facebook Inc. is facing new allegations that it illegally harvests the biometric data of users, this time in a lawsuit that targets the company's photo-sharing app Instagram.
Context & Ripple Effects
Facebook's biometric legal exposure has been compounding since a judge ruled in 2016 that Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act applied to its photo-tagging system, and an appeals court then forced the company to face the class action in 2019. The arc moved fast this year: a $550M settlement in January, rejected by the presiding judge as inadequate punishment, was replaced last month by a $650M settlement over the same Illinois law.
First-order effects
- Facebook now faces a second biometric class action within weeks of paying $650M on the first, with Instagram — not the flagship app — as the new target of the same consent-based claims.
- The prior settlements covered Facebook's tagging practices; they did not extinguish exposure across the company's other products, so Instagram users gain a fresh vehicle for BIPA claims.
Second-order effects
- A judge already demonstrated willingness to reject a settlement as too small, which raises the price floor for any future biometric deal and pressures Facebook to settle or litigate rather than lowball again.
- Rivals running comparable photo-tagging and face-analysis features now face copycat suits from plaintiffs' attorneys armed with a proven playbook and two landmark payouts as precedent.
Third-order effects
- If state biometric statutes keep producing nine-figure verdicts and settlements, consent-gated biometric collection becomes a compliance requirement baked into consumer apps industry-wide, with litigation risk priced into every face-analysis feature launch.
The trend: State biometric privacy laws are turning facial-recognition features into recurring, escalating litigation liabilities that outlast individual settlements.