Augmented reality has helped shoppers virtually try on goods from retailers including Amazon, Warby Parker, and Fendi, but legal issues could soon make the feature obsolete. Biometric privacy lawsuits are questioning how safe online try-on is for consumers, with cases already pending against Louis Vuitton as well as cosmetics company Estée Lauder, according to Bloomberg Law.
Plaintiffs have primarily focused on eyewear and makeup try-on tools and claim companies are unlawfully collecting “scans of face geometry,” a term used in Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The law safeguards Illinois residents’ biometric privacy rights and requires companies to seek written consent before collecting data such as eye and fingerprint scans, the former of which could be violated by virtual try-on’s need for camera access.
