Facebook loses privacy ruling

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

A federal judge in San Francisco ruled Monday that the Menlo Park company must face claims that it violated the privacy of millions of users by gathering and storing biometric data without their consent. Google is fighting similar claims in federal court in Chicago.

U.S. 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 image is used without permission. A court victory for consumers could lead to new restrictions on Facebook’s use of biometrics in the U.S., similar to those in Europe and Canada.

“When an online service simply disregards the Illinois procedures, as Facebook is alleged to have done, the right of the individual to maintain her biometric privacy vanishes into thin air,” Donato wrote in Monday’s ruling. “The precise harm the Illinois legislature sought to prevent is then realized.”

Donato previously rejected Facebook’s argument that the case had to be dismissed because the attempt to enforce Illinois law runs afoul of its user agreement that requires disputes to be resolved under the laws of California, where it’s based.