UK neobank Revolut faces a US lawsuit in Illinois over alleged “unlawful” biometric data collection.
Cook County Record first reported the court documents that accuses Revolut of failing to disclose how applicants’ biometric data is collected, stored, and destroyed or secured, under written consent through Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).
The plaintiff, Tina Haralampopoulos, also claims that Revolut does not disclose any third party participation in the biometric identity verification process.
Founded in 2015, Revolut is a prepaid card and app that offers a range of digital banking services. Customers of the fintech company submit photographs of their ID and a selfie, ensuring that the two images are the same person, on its app.
Haralampopoulos is represented by attorney Matthew T. Peterson, a Consumer Law Advocate PLLC, of Chicago and seeks an order declaring that Revolut’s conduct violates BIPA, requiring them to cease these activities,as well as award damages to her and other proposed class members.
Plaintiffs can reportedly demand up to $5k in damages per alleged violation if Revolut is found guilty of violating BIPA. Social media network Facebook is one of several companies to have been found guilty under the act and were ordered to pay $650m.
Other technology companies that have also agreed class action settlements are TikTok ($92m), Google ($100m) and Snapchat ($35m).
Large settlements are due to Illinois Supreme Courts decisions which have interpreted the BIPA law to define individual violations of the law as each time a business scans someone’s so-called biometric identifiers, such as their fingerprints or facial geometry.
The case was filed in Cook County Circuit Court on 11 December, months after it was reported that Revolut was set to smash its 2022 revenue in financial results.
