EAST ST. LOUIS – Australian photography website GeoSnapShot challenges Southern Illinois District jurisdiction over a complaint that it violated the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act.
GeoSnapShot counsel John Ellis of Chicago moved to dismiss the complaint on June 29, claiming GeoSnapShot doesn’t have sufficient contacts with Illinois.
He claimed GeoSnapShot doesn’t maintain a place of business in Illinois, employ anyone in Illinois, or own, lease, or occupy property in Illinois.
He added that the defendant employs seven persons full time.
Ellis also moved to dismiss American subsidiary GeoSnapShot Inc., a Delaware corporation in Colorado, claiming it didn’t exist at the time of the allegations in the complaint.
He added that GeoSnapShot Inc. employs three persons.
Moultrie County residents Adam Moomaw and Regan Moomaw sued GeoSnapShot in March in St. Clair County Circuit Court.
Their counsel, John Driscoll of Puerto Rico and Matthew Limoli of Driscoll’s office in St. Louis, proposed to certify them as representatives for a statewide class action.
They claimed GeoSnapShot possessed biometric information without having a publicly available policy.
They also claimed it stored data of persons without informing them in writing and collected data without obtaining a release.
Driscoll and Limoli claimed GeoSnapShot allows registered photographers to attend events, upload photos to its website, and receive commissions on photos sold through the website.
They added that the defendant collects biometric data of every person in a photograph, even those who don’t use it or aren’t aware it exists.
Driscoll and Limoli claimed GeoSnapShot contracted with event company Tough Mudder in 2019, for photographs of participants in endurance competitions.
They claimed GeoSnapShot obtained biometric data from Adam and Regan Moomaw at a Tough Mudder event in Rockford in 2019.
They listed ten other Tough Mudder events in Illinois from 2019 to 2022.
The plaintiffs sought $1,000 for each negligent violation and $5,000 for each reckless violation.
GeoSnapShot removed the complaint to district court in April, asserting diverse citizenship.
Ellis followed up with the motion to dismiss, claiming the website is not hosted in Illinois and no processing or storage of data occurs in Illinois.
He claimed that an event organizer who isn’t a GeoSnapShot employee must create an event on the GeoSnapShot website.
He added that the organizer then recruits photographers who aren’t GeoSnapShot employees.
Ellis claimed that when photographers upload photos to the website, they do not provide identification information for people in the photos or indicate where they reside.
He alleged website users must provide a name and email address, but they don’t inform GeoSnapShot where they reside.
Tough Mudder events are held throughout the U.S. and the United Kingdom.
Ellis claimed GeoSnapShot has no role in the selection of photographers or photos they upload.
He claimed Adam and Regan Moomaw alleged photographers uploaded their photographs but didn’t allege they were employees of GeoSnapShot.
He added that they didn’t sufficiently allege that defendants purposefully directed their activities at Illinois or purposefully availed themselves of the privilege of conducting business in Illinois.
Ellis claimed plaintiffs themselves can’t be the only link between the defendant and the forum.
“The mere fact that a defendant’s activities ultimately had an effect on the plaintiff in the forum cannot establish personal jurisdiction,” he wrote.
“It is well established that providing technology to third parties that use it for their own purposes in Illinois does not rise to the level of the necessary minimum contacts to create personal jurisdiction over a defendant,” he added.
District Judge David Dugan presides.
He has set trial in 2025.