Google Wins Dismissal of Suit Over Facial Recognition Software (bloomberg.com)

A lawsuit filed against Google by users who said the world's largest search engine violated their privacy by using facial recognition technology was dismissed by a judge on Saturday. From a report: U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang in Chicago cited a lack of "concrete injuries" to the plaintiffs. The suit, initially filed in March 2016, alleged Alphabet's Google collected and stored biometric data from photographs using facial recognition software, running afoul of a unique Illinois law against using a person's image without permission.

Comments

Lack of concrete injuries

[Anonymous Coward]

Is that really a thing? If you break the law and nobody gets hurt, doesn't mean you shouldn't be penalized. For example, what if I'm texting and driving and I don't hit anyone? Does that mean I shouldn't be slapped with a fine for distracted driving -- because there are no concrete injuries?

That is bullshit

[SuperKendall]

Prior to ubiquitous mobile phone cameras and fixed cameras, there was essentially some level of "privacy" even when in public, because of the impracticality of gathering such data and having the wide scope of data collection to be able to "connect the dots".

Always been legal to have a P.I. tail and photograph you in public.

Always been legal to sit on a bench every day for twenty years and make a note of who passed by.

There were many ways even before smartphones you COULD HAVE easily been tracked if someone cared. Just because there's a lot more data around now does not change the equation even slightly.

What would it even mean to have the right to "public privacy". You can arrest someone from taking a picture of a nice looking park because you happened to be laying the grass? If someone looks at you inadvertently they can be arrested, or later mind-wiped?

The reason why capturing images in public is legal is because anything else is the road to madness and collapse of society.