A group of parents and their children from Illinois and California has filed a lawsuit against Meta in federal court in Chicago, alleging that the company unlawfully used their Facebook and Instagram photos to develop an unreleased face-recognition system called NameTag and to train generative AI models, including Emu and Muse Image. The proposed class action claims that Meta violated privacy laws in Illinois and California by extracting biometric information from users’ photos without their consent.
According to reporting by WIRED, the lawsuit highlights that the code for NameTag was embedded in the Meta glasses AI companion app, which has been downloaded over 50 million times. Although the feature was not activated for users, it was designed to convert faces captured by the glasses into biometric signatures, which would then be compared to faceprints stored on users’ phones. The source of these faceprints remains unclear.
The complaint suggests that these faceprints may originate from images on Facebook and Instagram, referencing claims from Meta employees that NameTag could recognize individuals through their Meta connections or public Instagram accounts. Meta has previously stated that it is not creating a central face database but has not clarified whether users would have the option to opt-in to the system.
The lawsuit also addresses Meta’s image-generation systems, asserting that the training of Emu involved large amounts of data from Facebook and Instagram, which allegedly included biometric information from individuals depicted in the images. Muse Image faced backlash earlier this summer for allowing users to generate images based on public Instagram accounts, a feature that was quickly removed.
Meta has responded to the lawsuit, asserting that it is without merit and misrepresents the company’s practices. A spokesperson stated that the company has been transparent about how it uses user information to enhance its AI products and emphasized that no final decisions have been made regarding the rollout of NameTag.
The plaintiffs, including Francisco Alvarez and his son from Illinois, and Jeremy Wahl and his 10-year-old daughter from California, are seeking damages under Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act, which could amount to $5,000 for each intentional violation and $1,000 for each negligent violation. The proposed class could potentially include millions of individuals across the United States whose images were uploaded to Meta’s platforms since September 4, 2021.
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