Facebook Users Try to Halt Biometric Privacy Appeal (1)

The Ninth Circuit should reconsider its decision permitting Facebook Inc. to immediately appeal class certification in a high-stakes privacy suit, class representatives told the court Jan. 31.

A new Illinois Supreme Court ruling undermines the basis of the court’s grant of interlocutory review, and the appeal should therefore be dismissed, they say.

Facebook’s Illinois users allege its photo-scanning technology violates a new state law by gathering and storing biometric data without users’ consent.

The suit potentially exposes the company to billions of dollars in liability: The Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act allows damages of $1,000 to $5,000 each time someone’s ...