LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – Two Illinois Snapchat users have filed a suit against the application over allegations that it stores information that made them susceptible to identify theft.
Jose Luis Martinez and Malcolm Neal, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, filed a complaint on May 23 in the Superior Court of California against Snapchat Inc. alleging that the multimedia service provider violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that their biometrics were compromised and that it put them heightened risk for identity theft as a result of using the app's lenses feature to add special effects, which stores users' face templates. The plaintiffs holds Snapchat Inc. responsible because the defendant allegedly collected, stored and used their biometric identifiers' and biometric information without providing notice or obtaining informed written consent and failed to provide a publicly available written policy.
The plaintiffs request a trial by jury and seek declaration that defendant's actions violated the BIPA, compensation for statutory damages, litigation expenses and attorneys' fees, pre- and post-judgment interest and such other and further relief as equity and justice may require. They are represented by Tina Wolfson of Ahdoot & Wolfson PC in West Hollywood, California; Katrina Carroll and Kyle A. Shamberg of Lite DePalma Greenberg LLC in Chicago, Illinois; and Jorge Gamboa of Stephan Zouras LLP in Chicago, Illinois.
The defendant removed the case to U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on July 14.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California Case number 2:16-cv-05182