BIPA Choice-of-Law Dismissal Provides Key Lessons
(Biometric Update, Nov 30, 2022)
Suit was initially filed in Illinois, alleging two claims for relief under BIPA. After the case was transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, ProctorU argued that the contractual choice-of-law provision contained in its Terms barred the plaintiffs’ BIPA claims. The court agreed, finding that the BIPA claims fell within the scope of that choice-of-law provision. Further, because the choice-of-law provision was enforceable according to Alabama choice-of-law rules, Alabama substantive law applied and the plaintiffs were precluded from stating an Illinois state-law BIPA claim upon which relief could be granted as a matter of law. Consequently, the BIPA class action was dismissed in its entirety and with prejudice.
Grocery Stores Are Testing New Facial Recognition Cameras
(thebharatexpressnews.com, Nov 30, 2022)
Grocery stores that already use facial recognition cameras will turn them off ahead of a new trial. The 320-store cooperative supermarket group already has just under a tenth of its stores, 29, using the technology. They were installed in response to the rising crime rate. But the stores will turn that off and new facial recognition systems will be deployed for the trial. “As of this week, all stores using existing facial recognition technology solutions have agreed to shut down their systems while stores review their crime prevention and security measures,” spokesperson Emma Wooster said. “The stores participating in our trial will use a new system when the trial starts in the near future.” About 30 stores will participate in the trial, but it could not yet say which ones. Foodstuffs owns Pak’nSave, New World and Four Square supermarkets.
Four Key Drivers Of The Digital Identity Market's Growth
(Forbes, Nov 30, 2022)
The digital identity market has experienced accelerated growth and major transformation in recent years. This is the result of the increase in digitization, the proliferation of more virtualized business models and increasing requirements around privacy and security, coupled with reduced friction and more operational efficiency. The digital identity market, as defined by my company, 1414 Ventures, is comprised of 50 subsectors, and it has a valuation of $663.9 billion, up 8.5% from a valuation of $612 billion in 2021, and is projected to cross $1 trillion by 2024 according to our calculations. The digital identity market's growth is not a surprise given the key dynamic market drivers in the industry. The sharp increase in identity fraud (costing $43 billion in 2020) and cyberattacks/data breach incidents (up 15.1% in 2021 versus the previous year) are fueling the need for next-generation fraud prevention solutions, which are provided by companies operating under multiple segments in digital identity.
Visa and QNB Pilot Biometrics and Digital Prepaid Cards at World Cup
(PaymentsJournal, Nov 30, 2022)
The prepaid digital card option does not represent the newest technology. But it meets the needs of the growing segment of consumers who pay through digital wallets. And it also highlights the integration of short-term products such as prepaid cards utilized for travel. In the U.S., the average consumer who uses an open-loop digital prepaid card, spends more than $150 each per year, according to Mercator Advisory Group prepaid research. That is starting to approach the nearly $250 each that those using physical open-loop cards spent. The combination of digital and events like the World Cup indicates industry support aligning with my 2023 Outlook: Prepaid predictions. While travel will not return to pre-pandemic levels, it is starting to recover.
Lawsuit Alleges Google Broke Louisiana Law in Capturing Residents' Biometric Data
(Kpvi.com, Nov 30, 2022)
Google Inc. is being sued in Louisiana over allegations that the online-search giant has been capturing and selling biometric data from residents in violation of the state's consumer protection and privacy law. Sandra Nomey, a retired hotel executive, and Nathan Bandaries, one of the lawyers bringing the case in Louisiana, are the named plaintiffs in the suit filed earlier this year in Orleans Parish Civil District Court. The case was moved to federal district court in New Orleans in late September. The plaintiffs, who have sought class action status, claims that there are "hundreds of thousands" of putative class members. The lawsuit is similar to a case in Illinois which was settled earlier this year for $100 million. Illinois and Louisiana have similar consumer protection laws that prohibit the use of an individual's fingerprints, face or other biometric data, captured through photographs for example, without their explicit consent.
Researcher Discovers Serious Security Flaws in Eufy Cameras — Again
(AndroidPolice, Nov 30, 2022)
Last year, a "software bug" at Anker-owned Eufy caused a hubbub when multiple owners of the company's connected security cameras were able to access live feeds and saved video recordings from Eufy-branded cameras belonging to other people. Now, Eufy's in similar hot water again. Security researcher Paul Moore recently unearthed a couple of serious security flaws in Eufy devices — including one that could allow people to access unencrypted, live video feeds from Eufy cameras without any kind of authentication. Last week, Moore found that his Eufy Doorbell Dual — which he mentions buying based on Eufy's privacy-focused marketing — was uploading video thumbnails and facial recognition data to the cloud, despite his never opting in to Eufy's cloud services. Moore demonstrates that both images captured by his camera and his Eufy profile photo can be downloaded without authentication by navigating to an associated URL — but Eufy says the images are encrypted, and it seems Moore was only able to access them because he'd previously logged into his Eufy account in the same Incognito Chrome window.
