The Electronic Frontier Foundation has weighed in on the recent Appellate Court ruling that cleared the way for a class action lawsuit against Facebook. The lawsuit alleges that Facebook gathered biometric information from users without achieving proper consent. The facts of the case haven’t changed since earlier reports, but the EFF’s breakdown does help explain…
The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has cleared the way for a class action lawsuit against Facebook, ruling that “Facebook users located in Illinois for whom Facebook created and stored a face template after June 7, 2011,” are indeed a certified class entitled to legal representation. The ruling reaffirms the initial decision of Northern…
“It’s aimed primarily at protecting tenants’ privacy, and defending them against potential over-policing.” A trio of Congresswomen have announced a new piece of legislation aimed at banning the use of biometric recognition in most public and assisted housing units funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Billed “The No Biometric Barriers Housing Act…
This week could see the further development of a small but growing trend toward banning the government’s use of facial recognition technology, with the Oakland City Council set to discuss a proposed ban in a meeting scheduled for Tuesday. Introduced earlier this year, the proposed ban would only apply to the municipal government, prohibiting it…
“By protecting the use of Aadhaar authentication on a voluntary basis, the central government is seeking to ensure that Aadhaar can still be used for private sector services.” India’s Parliament has passed legislation allowing citizens to voluntarily use Aadhaar as identification when opening new banking or mobile accounts. The bill, called “The Aadhaar and Other…
The Illinois House of Representatives has passed legislation that would require a fingerprint check for anyone looking to obtain a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card or a concealed carry license in the state. The fingerprints would be matched against Illinois police and FBI databases, offering better background checks and making it more difficult for people…
The Biometrics Institute is asking law enforcement, border control, and other government agencies to exhibit good behavior when deploying biometric technology, warning that it may be regulated for them if they use it irresponsibly and go on to lose public trust. “It is vital that anyone using biometrics to identify individuals follows responsible and ethical…
Apple’s introduction of the face-scanning Face ID system in 2017’s iPhone X went a long way in helping to make facial recognition for authentication a mainstream technology among consumers. But it was Amazon that really made facial recognition for large-scale public identification explode into the national discourse as an ethical issue, after an ACLU report…
“The IBIA is not alone in taking issue with the ban; after the legislation passed its Board vote, an advocacy group called Stop Crime SF issued a statement insisting that the ban could have been a moratorium, since facial recognition technology shows considerable potential as a crime-fighting tool. “ The International Biometrics + Identity Association…
City officials in San Francisco have approved a proposed ban on the city’s use of facial recognition, clearing the way for it to become law. First proposed at the end of January, the legislation is designed to prohibit the use of facial recognition-based surveillance technology by city departments, and requires them to seek approval from…
“The legislation not only bans the live use of facial recognition through police body camera feeds, but also bans the application of this technology to any data collected through such cameras.” The California Assembly has voted in favor of a piece of legislation – Assembly Bill 1215 – aimed at banning the use of facial…
The city of Oakland’s Privacy Commission has approved a proposal to ban the municipal government’s use of facial recognition. As CBS’s local news station reports, the proposed legislation still has a long way to go before it can take effect. It will need to be approved by the Public Safety Committee, and then by the…
Chicago-based law firm Hahn Loeser & Parks has opened a new Biometric Privacy Practice Group aimed at supporting clients fighting claims under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act. It’s the latest sign of what may be a growing niche in the state’s legal field, after a landmark Illinois Supreme Court ruling in January that clearly…
The Japanese government has formally announced a plan this week to fight gambling addiction that include the use of biometric technology. The aim is to have operators of gambling facilities use facial recognition technology to automatically identify gambling addicts and restrict entry. Individuals’ faces would be added to such automated watch lists by request, either…
Shook, Hardy, and Bacon has added two biometrics specialists to its corporate litigation team in Illinois. The law office has announced that attorneys Melissa Siebert (a new Partner) and Erin Bolan Hines (Of Counsel) will be handling complex biometrics lawsuits as members of the firm’s Business Litigation, Employment and Privacy and Data Security Practices department.…
Amazon is now calling for government regulation of facial recognition technology, even as it defends sales of its own such technology to law enforcement authorities. In a new post on the Amazon Web Services Machine Learning blog, the company’s VP of Global Public Policy, Michael Punke, writes, “We support the calls for an appropriate national…
The heart of Silicon Valley could become the first place where AI-driven facial recognition technology is banned, if proposed legislation is put into place. The proposition comes from San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Aaron Peskin. It would implement new requirements for police to obtain approval from the city’s Board of Supervisors before purchasing new…
An agreement to facilitate the sharing of biometric data between police authorities in Japan and the US has taken effect, The Japan Times reports. The deal concerns Japan’s National Policy Agency and America’s FBI and Department of Homeland Security. The countries first came to the agreement in 2014. While there were already previous agreements in…
The Illinois Supreme Court has issued its ruling on a pivotal case concerning the state’s biometric privacy law, with a unanimous decision upholding its broad scope. The case, Rosenbach v. Six Flags, was brought forward by the mother whose son was, at the age of 14, fingerprinted at the Six Flags amusement park as part…