Microsoft, Amazon Avoid Illinois BIPA Suits Over Photo Uploads

Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. won’t have to face separate class actions alleging they violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act when they made use of a biometric-information data set produced by IBM Corp. from photos uploaded by users to a photo-sharing website.

Judge James L. Robart of the US District Court for the Western District of Washington granted summary judgment to the tech giants in nearly identical lawsuits alleging they violated the BIPA by obtaining theinformation from the data set without users’ written consent.

Steven Vance and Tim Janecyk, the named plaintiffs in each lawsuit, failed to show that ...