Full Breakdown
Meta Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged Unauthorized Use of User Photos for AI Training
By Drooid · · How we work
Lawsuit Claims Unauthorized Biometric Data Extraction
Parents and their children in Illinois and California filed a federal lawsuit in Chicago last week alleging that Meta illegally harvested photos from Facebook and Instagram to create biometric signatures for NameTag, an unreleased face-recognition system intended for its smart-glasses product, and to train the generative-AI models Emu and Muse Image. The complaint asserts violations of Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act and California’s privacy statutes, which require notice and consent before collecting biometric identifiers.
Background on NameTag and Meta Glasses
WIRED reported that code for NameTag was secretly embedded in the Meta glasses AI companion app, which has been downloaded more than 50 million times. Although the feature was not enabled for app users, the analysis indicated that the system was built to convert faces captured by the glasses into biometric signatures and compare them with “faceprints” stored on the user’s phone, with updates pushed from Meta. A company patent describes matching those faceprints against profile photos and public Instagram accounts, but WIRED could not verify the source of the underlying faceprint data.
Meta’s Response
The company has not disclosed which images, if any, were used to generate biometric data, stating that the information remains solely in its possession.
Legal and Privacy Implications
If the plaintiffs’ allegations are upheld, Meta could face statutory damages under the Illinois and California laws and may be required to modify its data-collection practices for emerging AI products. The case underscores growing regulatory scrutiny of how large platforms repurpose user-generated content to train artificial-intelligence systems.
Key Figures and Numbers
- Plaintiffs: a group of parents and children from Illinois and California.
- Meta technologies implicated: NameTag face-recognition system, Emu and Muse Image generative-AI models.
- App downloads: over 50 million.
