Brainshark Can’t Sink Biometric Privacy Suit Over Facial Maps

Brainshark Inc. must face an Illinois saleswoman’s proposed class action alleging it collected her biometric information without her consent in violation of the state Biometric Information Privacy Act, a federal court ruled.

Lori Wilk claimed Brainshark analyzed and retained her facial geometry from sales presentation videos she uploaded at the direction of her former employer, RQI Partners LLC, and that it failed to obtain her consent or provide her with required information about its data collection and management policies.

Brainshark argued that the videos weren’t biometric information under the BIPA, but were comparable to photographs, which are excluded from the ...