A privacy suit against the Chinese-owned video-sharing site TikTok was filed in federal court last week in an effort to prevent the collection and dissemination of facial identifiers of Illinois minors.
A.S., a minor through guardian A.S., filed the class action lawsuit against TikTok Inc. and ByteDance Inc. on May 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorney Tiffany Marko Yiatras of Consumer Protection Legal LLC in St. Louis.
“Every individual has unique biometric identifiers by which he or she can be identified. One such biometric identifier is a person’s facial geometry," Yiatras wrote.
Yiatras claims TikTok violates the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by using “proprietary facial recognition technology” to scan every video uploaded to the app. The technology allegedly “extracts geometric data relating to the unique points and contours of each face, and then uses that data to create and store a template of each face – all without ever informing anyone of this practice.”
“To accomplish this end, defendants implemented an artificial intelligence tool in the app that automatically performs these facial scans,” Yiatras wrote. “This technology permits users to superimpose images onto their faces or to use various ‘filters’ that alter, distort, or enhance their facial features.”
BIPA prohibits entities from collecting and using biometric identifiers without providing written notice and obtaining written consent. Entities must also adopt measures to prevent the release of biometric identifiers, the suit states.
According to the complaint, A.S. is a 17-year-old minor who has uploaded and posted numerous videos to TikTok, including images of the plaintiff’s face. Additionally, A.S.’s face has appeared in other users’ videos, “employing TikTok’s face sticker, face filter, and face tracker lens technology.”
“Through these videos, defendants have collected and stored plaintiff’s unique biometric identifiers and/or biometric information,” Yiatras wrote. “Upon information and belief, defendants have disclosed and/or disseminated these biometric identifiers and/or biometric information to third parties.”
Yiatras wrote that the lawsuit seeks to “ensure that Illinois minors’ privacy is adequately protected.”
“Because of data concerns, some U.S. military branches have even banned the use of the app on government-issued phones,” she added. “Republican Senator Josh Hawley has called for a total ban on the use of the app across the United States. Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman called TikTok ‘fundamentally parasitic’ due to privacy concerns.”
Yiatras argues businesses worldwide are competing to develop more advanced facial recognition technology, causing privacy concerns for people everywhere.
“Public policy in Illinois provides that given the risks of unwanted data collection and disclosure, citizens need the power to make decisions about the fate of their unique biometric identifiers and/or biometric information. Defendants’ actions robbed plaintiff and class members of that power,” she wrote.
Yiatras alleges the plaintiffs have already sustained injuries after losing control over their biometric identifiers and face “imminent and certainly impending injuries.”
“As a result of defendants’ misconduct, plaintiff and class members have no recourse for the fact that their biologically unique information has been compromised,” she wrote.
According to the complaint, TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, is based in Beijing, China, and was founded in 2012. ByteDance is described as a well-known “hit app factory that has spent the last decade using technologies such as artificial intelligence and facial recognition.”
TikTok is described in the complaint as “a video-sharing social networking service used to create short videos, favored by children and teens.” The app is used to create dance, lip-sync, comedy and talent videos. Those videos are allegedly collected and disclosed to third parties. As a result, “Illinois resident minor TikTok users’ facial geometric scans” are allegedly being shared without adequate knowledge or consent.
TikTok first launched in China in September 2016 and became available in the U.S. in August 2018 following a merger between TikTok and Shanghai-based social media platform musical.ly. The app has approximately 2.4 million active daily users, including minors. Yiatras wrote that as of January 2020, teens accounted for 37.2 percent of the app’s active user accounts in the U.S.
The plaintiff seeks class certification for the case with A.S. acting as class representative.
Yiatras asks the court to award the class statutory and punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, fees and costs.
She seeks an order barring the defendants from continuing to collect biometric identifiers and from any further use of individuals’ biometric identifiers. She also seeks an order requiring the defendants to delete all biometric identifiers in its possession and requiring them to “claw back” biometric identifiers from third parties.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois case number 3:20-cv-457