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"<p>Three class actions pending against Facebook over the potential privacy implications of the social media site\u2019s so-called tag suggestion feature have been relocated from Chicago\u2019s federal courts to San Francisco\u2019s.<br>\n<br>\nU.S. District Judge James B. Zagel on July 29 granted a request from Facebook, and supported by attorneys for the plaintiffs, to transfer the cases filed this spring in the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago to the Northern District of California.<br>\n<br>\nThe actions were first launched against the Palo Alto, Calif.-based social media giant in April by plaintiff Carlo Licata, through attorney Jay Edelson, of Edelson P.C., of Chicago. That case was filed in Cook County Circuit Court on April 1, but was removed by Facebook to Chicago\u2019s federal court on May 6.<br>\n<br>\nThe Licata actions were soon followed in federal court by similar actions brought by plaintiff Adam Pezen, represented by attorney Joel H. Bernstein, of Labaton Sucharow, of New York, on April 21, and plaintiff Nimesh Patel, represented by attorneys Shawn A. Williams and Paul Geller, of Robbins Geller Rudman, of San Francisco, on May 14.<br>\n<br>\nThe cases all center on similar allegations surrounding Facebook\u2019s decision to introduce a new photo tagging system. Developed by Face.com, a company Facebook acquired, the system uses facial recognition technology to recognize people in photos posted by users. Facebook then asks users posting the photos if they wish to \u201Ctag\u201D their friends \u2013 attaching a marker to the photo identifying people in the photo who they may know.<br>\n<br>\nWhile Facebook has marketed the system as a \u201Cconvenience feature,\u201D the plaintiffs argue the new system represents a \u201Csurreptitious collection, use and storage\u201D of \u201Cbiometric data\u201D of Facebook users.<br>\n<br>\nLicata\u2019s complaint, for instance, alleges the company was \u201Ccalculatedly elusive\u201D in introducing the system to its users, and did not offer a release from users authorizing the collection of their \u201Cfaceprints,\u201D or a readily available policy describing how Facebook will retain or potentially destroy users\u2019 biometric data.<br>\n<br>\nThey allege these actions amount to violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.<br>\n<br>\nPlaintiffs have asked the judge to create a class of users, which could number in the millions, and award damages of $5,000 per violation. <br>\n<br>\nIn early July, about two months after removing the case to Chicago federal court, Facebook\u2019s lawyers, including Lauren R. Goldman, and other attorneys from the Chicago-based firm of Mayer Brown, asked the judge to transfer the case to the San Francisco Bay Area of California, which is where Facebook\u2019s corporate headquarters is located.<br>\n<br>\nThe company said the user agreement to which all Facebook users must consent when they register with the site and create a Facebook page includes a provision, clearly marked, which states disputes between the company and its users must be settled in the Northern California federal courts.<br>\n<br>\nIn a joint stipulation filed with the court July 27, attorneys for the plaintiffs, who have indicated their intent to consolidate the cases into a single class action, assented to the transfer, saying they wished \u201Cto avoid unnecessary delay\u201D in judging the case.<br>\n<br>\nZagel granted the transfer request two days later.</p>"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://cookcountyrecord.com/stories/510631668-facebook-face-tagging-class-actions-transferred-from-chicago-to-northern-california>