Lawsuit alleging Target illegally collected biometric data can move

A federal judge has denied Target’s request to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the retailer of illegally collecting customers’ biometric data.

The class-action suit, filed in May in federal court in Illinois, charges Target with capturing and storing consumers’ biometric data, including “scans of their facial geometry,” without informing them in writing or obtaining consent as required by the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), passed in Illinois in 2008.

The lawsuit − filed by four Illinois women who shop at Target on behalf of Illinois shoppers – notes that Target has installed cameras to monitor stores for shoplifting and uses facial recognition software. The women say neither they nor consumers have been told how data, including their likeness, is used or how long it is stored − something they say is required by the Illinois law.

Target had asked that the lawsuit be dismissed because the women’s claims were not based on their own factual knowledge but on news reports, including a 2018 CBS Evening News story on Target’s National Investigation Center, located just north of Minneapolis, where investigators can see video from all Target stores.

One of the women alleges in the suit that a Target loss prevention employee followed her while she walked through a store and that a Target asset protection operations manager viewed her LinkedIn profile shortly after she entered the store.

Here’s what you need to know about the case, including more about the judge’s order.

More about judge’s order allowing lawsuit

In his order allowing the lawsuit to proceed on Thursday, District Judge Jeremy Daniel said that the “allegations present a story that holds together.”

“This is not a case where the complaint ‘offers no basis for the allegation that (the defendant) disclosed (the plaintiff’s) biometric data’; rather, it is one where the plaintiffs’ supply a legitimate reason why they believe Target violated BIPA, which is sufficient to survive the motion to dismiss,” he said.

Target Facial Recognition Amended Complaint by Mike Snider on Scribd

Target has until Dec. 13. to answer the complaint. USA TODAY has reached out to Target for comment.

A similar suit, filed in March, in Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois, was voluntarily dismissed in May.

Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lawsuit accusing Target of collecting biometric data moves forward

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