Parents and children in Illinois and California filed a lawsuit last week in federal court in Chicago accusing Meta of illegally using their Facebook and Instagram photos to build NameTag, an unreleased face-recognition system for its smart glasses, and to train generative AI models including Emu and Muse Image. The proposed class action claims Meta violated Illinois and California privacy laws by extracting biometric information from people's photos without notice or consent.
The complaint alleges the faceprints used by NameTag may come from Facebook and Instagram images. It cites reporting that Meta employees said NameTag could recognize people through their Meta connections or public Instagram accounts, and a company patent describing face matching against profile photos and other images Meta holds. Meta told WIRED in June that it was not building a central face database, but declined to answer whether NameTag would be opt-in or how faceprints would be retained. The complaint says Meta has not disclosed which images, if any, were used to generate biometric data, saying that information stays solely with the company.
WIRED reported in June that NameTag code had been secretly embedded in the Meta glasses AI companion app, downloaded more than 50 million times. The feature was not enabled for app users, but analysis found the system was designed to turn faces captured by the glasses into biometric signatures and compare them with faceprints stored in a database on the user's phone, configured to receive updates from Meta. At the time, WIRED could not determine where the underlying faceprint data came from. The day after the report, Meta removed the code from its app.
The suit also targets Meta's image-generation systems. Meta has said it trained Emu on large quantities of Facebook and Instagram images and text, with chief product officer Chris Cox calling those platforms a data advantage for its AI systems. The complaint alleges the training process illegally harvested biometric information about people appearing in the images. Muse Image, released this summer, drew criticism after letting users generate images based on other people's public Instagram accounts, a feature Meta removed within days, saying it had missed the mark.
A Meta spokesperson called the lawsuit without merit and said the company has been transparent about how it uses people's information to build and improve AI products. The spokesperson said nothing has shipped to consumers for NameTag and no final decision has been made, adding that any rollout would be thoughtful and transparent and that Meta is not building a universal face database. Justin Boley, a partner at Wexler Boley & Elgersma and an attorney for the plaintiffs, said people should not have to worry that their biometric information will be misused simply because their photographs appear on a social media platform.
The plaintiffs are Francisco Alvarez and his son, both Illinois residents, and Jeremy Wahl, a California resident, and his 10-year-old daughter. The proposed class covers people in Illinois, California and across the United States whose images were uploaded to Facebook or Instagram or submitted to Meta's generative AI systems through prompts, dating back to September 4, 2021, and the complaint estimates it could number in the millions. Under Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act, the plaintiffs seek $5,000 for each intentional or reckless violation, or actual damages if greater, and $1,000 for each negligent violation, or actual damages if greater, plus injunctive relief. The California claims seek additional damages and other relief.
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