Estee Lauder beats biometric class action over virtual 'try-on' tool

By

Benjamin Fitzgerald

Published
Jan 13, 2024

​Estee Lauder and several of its well-known cosmetics brands on Wednesday dodged a proposed class action claiming its virtual "try-on" tool violates Illinois’ biometric privacy law, after a judge said the plaintiffs provided no proof that the company could connect facial scans to customers' identities.

U.S. District Judge Lindsay Jenkins in Chicago granted Estee Lauder Companies' motion to dismiss the lawsuit, brought under a stringent Illinois biometric privacy law that sets standards for companies collecting and storing information like retina scans, facial geometry and fingerprints. The judge's decision said the customers could file an amended complaint.

The lawsuit accused Estee Lauder and its brands Bobbi Brown, Smashbox and Too Faced of failing to warn customers that their biometric information would be collected when they used tools on the companies’ websites that allow people to submit a photo or use a live camera feed to virtually “try on” cosmetics. The lawsuit also named Perfect Corp, a Taiwanese company that makes the technology in question.

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Jenkins said the four customers who brought the lawsuit hadn’t shown how Estee Lauder could connect the facial scans the virtual try-on widgets collect to a person’s actual identity. She also dismissed Perfect from the lawsuit, saying the company lacked sufficient ties to Illinois to be sued there.

Representatives for the customers, Estee Lauder and Perfect did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Illinois’ unique Biometric Information Privacy Act grants a private right of action to sue over the mishandling of biometric information. It has spurred thousands of lawsuits and several hefty settlements and judgments, including a 2020 settlement that saw Meta Platforms' Facebook agree to pay $650 million to settle a BIPA class action involving its use of facial recognition software. The company denied wrongdoing.