J&J Can’t Evade Biometric Suit Over At-Home Skin Care Face Scans

Johnson & Johnson Inc. must face a proposed biometric privacy class action after failing to convince a federal judge that its Neutrogena Skin360 facial-scanning service falls under an Illinois law’s health-care exemption.

No medical professionals are involved when Neutrogena Skin360 provides users’ skin assessments, so considering the J&J service as “medical care” under the state Biometric Information Privacy Act’s exemption would be “a reach,” Judge Michael A. Shipp wrote in a memorandum opinion and order issued in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey.

J&J’s service relies on artificial intelligence to compare a user’s skin to a ...