#crypto Coinbase faces lawsuit over alleged breaches of Illinois biometric privacy law Coinbase users claimed the exchange failed to notify them about the collection, storage, sharing and retention schedule of their biometric data.A group of Coinbase users from Illinois have filed a class-action lawsuit against the crypto exchange, alleging that its identity checks violate the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).

Plaintiffs Scott Bernstein, Gina Greeder and James Lonergan claimed in the May 13 lawsuit filed in a federal court that Coinbase’s “wholesale collection” of faceprints for its Know Your Customer requirements violates BIPA, as they weren’t notified.

The group claimed Coinbase failed to notify users in writing of the collection, storage, or sharing of their biometric data and the purpose and retention schedule for their data.

“Coinbase does not publicly provide a retention schedule or guidelines for permanently destroying Plaintiffs’ biometric identifiers as specified by BIPA,” they alleged. 

The complaint said Coinbase requires users to verify their identity by uploading a government-issued photo ID and a selfie, which is then sent to a third-party facial recognition software to scan and extract facial geometry. 

This process captures biometric identifiers without users’ informed written consent, which the suit claimed violates BIPA.