Pimeyes, a facial recognition search engine, collected and processed biometric data from millions of Americans without consent, violating Illinois privacy laws by scanning internet images using artificial intelligence to build a searchable database.
Pimeyes Sp. Z O.O and associated companies offer a facial recognition search engine service that charges users $29.99 per month to search the internet for photos containing a given face. To build this search engine, the defendants collected images of millions of Americans from databases across the internet and scanned them using artificial intelligence into their own database without obtaining consent from the individuals depicted. The database is described as massive and continuously updated with new photos. The company's service allows anyone to search for and download images of anyone else without that person's consent. A class action lawsuit was filed in Madison County Circuit Court by five plaintiffs alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The lawsuit claims that BIPA requires companies to inform visitors in writing before collecting biometric data, specify the purpose and storage duration, and obtain written consent. The plaintiffs argue that Pimeyes invaded privacy by collecting and storing biometric data without informed consent and lacks written policies for data retention and destruction. The plaintiffs seek damages, court costs, attorney fees, and an injunction requiring BIPA compliance.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
AI systems that memorize and leak sensitive personal data or infer private information about individuals without their consent. Unexpected or unauthorized sharing of data and information can compromise user expectation of privacy, assist identity theft, or cause loss of confidential intellectual property.
AI system
Due to a decision or action made by an AI system
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed