Apple faces ongoing lawsuit over Photos app facial recognition

A U.S. judge has partially rejected Apple’s defense in a class-action lawsuit regarding facial recognition technology within its Photos app. The lawsuit, filed under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), alleges that Apple creates and stores “faceprints” without obtaining explicit user consent, specifically noting that synchronization via iCloud facilitates these violations.

Apple presented several arguments to dismiss the claims, including the assertion that its neural networks analyze pixels rather than facial geometry, that the app only groups faces rather than identifying specific individuals, and that data on iCloud is encrypted and thus not held by the company. Judge Nancy Rosenstengel issued a ruling on September 30 that granted Apple partial relief regarding face cropping—noting that the placement of a face in a photo does not inherently reveal geometry—but allowed the remainder of the lawsuit to proceed.

The litigation, led by an anonymous plaintiff, seeks significant damages, with some reports suggesting the potential claim could reach $32.5 billion.