Facebook heads to court in photo-tagging privacy lawsuit

Facebook is going to court over claims that it violates its users’ privacy when it stores their facial features — a result of friends tagging, well, friends in photos.

Facebook subscribers sued the company, claiming that they never gave permission for their faces to be used as biometric identifiers.

Facebook had claimed that an Illinois state statute in question did not apply to the social network because its headquarters are in Menlo Park.

The Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act stops companies from storing such information — such as facial features — without people’s approval.

“People who consent to tagging, it would be very difficult for them to understand that when you allow someone to auto-tag you, you are really engaging in a lot of facial biometrics,” she said.