Shiseido’s Virtual Try On Tool Faces a Class Action Alleging Illegal Facial Scan Collection Across Multiple Beauty Brands

Shiseido Americas Corporation is facing a proposed class action alleging that the virtual cosmetic try on feature available across several of its brand websites collects, stores, and uses consumers’ facial scans without their knowledge or consent, in violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).

The suit, filed as Powell v. Shiseido Americas Corporation on November 30, 2021, in the Northern District of Illinois, targets one of the beauty industry’s most widely adopted digital commerce tools.

How the Try On Tool Works and What It Allegedly Collects The virtual try on feature is available across Shiseido Americas’ portfolio of brand websites, including bareminerals.com, narscosmetics.com, lauramercier.com, and cledepeaubeaute.com.

Accessed by clicking a “Try On,” “Try It On,” or “Try Now” button beneath a product image, the tool allows shoppers to see how a cosmetic product would look applied to their face, either via a live web or phone camera or by uploading a saved photo. The resulting image can then be downloaded or emailed…