CHICAGO, Sept. 4, 2026 — A class action lawsuit filed Friday, September 4, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, accuses Meta Platforms Inc. of collecting, storing and using facial images and biometric information obtained from Facebook and Instagram users to develop and operate facial recognition and generative artificial intelligence technologies without providing the notice or obtaining the consent required by law.
The lawsuit, brought by Illinois and California residents, alleges that Meta used images uploaded to its platforms to train and test facial recognition technology known as “NameTag,” as well as generative AI models including Emu and Muse Image. The complaint further alleges that Meta extracted and stored biometric identifiers and information from those images and used the resulting data for commercial purposes.
According to the complaint, NameTag was developed for Meta’s smart glasses and associated Meta AI software. The lawsuit alleges that the technology could transform faces captured by Meta’s glasses into biometric signatures, or “faceprints,” and compare them with biometric information stored by Meta that was obtained from images uploaded to Facebook and Instagram.
The complaint also focuses on Meta’s use of images in its generative AI systems. It alleges that Meta used images obtained from Facebook and Instagram accounts to train models including Emu and Muse Image and that the training process resulted in the creation and storage of biometric information associated with people appearing in those images. The complaint further alleges that biometric information can be extracted and stored when images containing faces are submitted to Meta’s generative AI models through user prompts.
“This case is about Meta’s latest attempts to turn the personal information of billions of people into profit,” said WBE Partner Justin N. Boley. People shouldn’t have to worry if their biometric information will be misused simply because their photographs appear on a social media platform.”
The lawsuit alleges that Meta’s practices violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), because the company failed to provide a publicly available retention policy governing the biometric information and failed to provide the required written notice or obtain informed written consent before collecting and storing biometric identifiers.
Plaintiffs also allege that Meta’s conduct violated California law, including California’s common-law right of publicity, California Civil Code § 3344(a) and the California Constitution’s right to privacy. The lawsuit alleges that Meta knowingly used individuals’ photographs, likenesses and biometric information for artificial intelligence training, product development, identity-recognition functions, personalization systems and other commercial purposes without consent.
“These latest privacy violations by Meta are not an aberration, but the foreseeable consequence of a business model that has, for over 20 years, thrived by collecting, analyzing, and monetizing ever-greater amounts of personal data,” Mr. Boley added.
The proposed classes include a National Class consisting of people in the United States whose images were uploaded to Facebook or Instagram, or to Meta’s generative AI models through prompting. The proposed Illinois and California classes similarly cover people in those states whose images were uploaded to Meta platforms or its generative AI models. The proposed class period begins September 4, 2021, and extends through the present.
The lawsuit seeks class certification, declaratory and injunctive relief, monetary damages and other relief.