Facebook can't escape privacy lawsuit challenging biometric face print

Judge decision to let the case proceed means that Facebook is still potentially on the hook for fines under a unique Illinois law of $1,000 to $5,000 each time a person's image is used

Facebook Inc. failed again to get out of a lawsuit alleging its photo scanning technology flouts users’ privacy rights.

A federal judge in San Francisco ruled Monday that the world’s largest social network must face claims that it violated the privacy of millions of users by gathering and storing biometric data without their consent. Alphabet Inc.’s Google is fighting similar claims in federal court in Chicago.

US District Judge James Donato’s decision to let the class-action case proceed means that Facebook is still potentially on the hook for fines under a unique Illinois law of $1,000 to $5,000 each time a person’s