EAST ST. LOUIS – Google and YouTube capture private information from users who blur faces and choose thumbnails, according to Brad Marschke of Effingham County.
He filed a class action complaint at U. S. district court on Aug. 30, seeking $1,000 for each negligent violation of state law on biometric privacy.
His counsel Frank Richter of Chicago alleges surreptitious collection, use, and storage of sensitive identifiers without consent.
He sued Google in its capacity as YouTube’s owner.
Richter claims Google and YouTube launched face blurring in 2012, ostensibly to protect protesters and individuals engaging in civil disobedience around the world.
He claims applying and saving a tool results in faces appearing blurry and ostensibly unrecognizable to any viewer.
He alleges that based on investigation of counsel, the tool allows Google and YouTube to store Marschke’s identifiers in geometric form.
Richter claims they “located his face and created or extracted a unique face print or template for him containing his biometric identifiers including his facial geometry.”
They subsequently stored the identifiers in databases, he alleges.
On the matter of thumbnails, Richter claims faces generate more clicks.
“Defendants are incentivized to auto generate thumbnails that contain faces, especially faces that contain more expression,” he wrote.
Richter alleges that based on investigation of counsel, the thumbnail feature works by scanning all faces to identify expressions.
“The purpose of this is to attract the most clicks and views for the uploaded videos,” he wrote.
He claims YouTube should have provided capture notices, retention schedules, and destruction guidelines.
Richter proposes to certify a statewide class for all whose face prints or templates were collected, captured, received, or otherwise obtained through YouTube.
He alleges Marschke didn’t know the exact number of plaintiffs but hundreds of thousands, and possibly millions, would fall into the class definition.
On top of $1,000 for each negligent violation, Richter seeks $5,000 for each intentional and reckless violation of the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).
The suit states that Google settled a privacy suit that a user of Google Photos filed in 2016, for $100 million.
Richter alleges that settlement expressly covered Google Photos only.
Marschke’s legal team also includes James Barz and Gary Klinger of Chicago, Stuart Davidson and Alexander Cohen of Florida, and Nick Suciu of Michigan.
The court clerk randomly assigned Chief District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel.