Anthropic sued in class action alleging Claude's ID and face verification violated Illinois biometric privacy law
A Chicago resident filed a class action against Anthropic in San Francisco Superior Court on behalf of himself and other users who gave biometric data to access Claude. The suit alleges that Claude locked him out of his account until he submitted photos of his driver's license and a live image of his face. It also alleges that Anthropic gave no written notice of how long it would keep that data and had no public policy on when it would be destroyed, as the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) requires. According to the lawsuit, Anthropic ran the information through its verification vendor. An Anthropic spokesperson said the company takes user privacy seriously and is reviewing the complaint.
What the AI did
Claude, Anthropic's chatbot service, allegedly locked a user out of his account until he submitted photos of his driver's license and a live image of his face. According to the lawsuit, Anthropic ran that information through its verification vendor.
First reported October 7, 2026 · Added to the register October 11, 2026 · 1 source
- Developer
- Anthropic
- Model
- Claude
- Affected
- Jose Enrique Ortiz Colon
- Country
- United States (Illinois)
- When it happened
- Not stated in the sources
- First reported
- October 7, 2026
What this means for you
Could this affect you?
If you collect facial images to verify the identity of Illinois residents. The lawsuit alleges that Claude users who had to submit a government ID and a live face image were not told in writing how long the data would be kept or when it would be destroyed. Any company using face-based identity checks on Illinois residents could face similar claims.
What to check
- Publish a written policy on how long facial images are kept and when they are destroyed before collecting them.
- Tell users in writing why facial images are collected and how long they will be stored and used before collecting them.
- Check that your identity verification vendors handle data in line with Illinois biometric privacy law and similar state laws.
Areas of your AI programme this touches
Every fact and its source (4)
- Lawsuit filedSept. 29“A Chicago resident filed a class-action lawsuit Sept. 29 against artificial intelligence company Anthropic”[1]
- Alleged account lockoutClaude locked user out until identity verification was completed“Colon said Claude locked him out of his account until he completed identity verification.”[1]
- Third-party vendorAnthropic used a verification vendor“Anthropic ran the information through its verification vendor”[1]
- Company responseAnthropic said it is reviewing the complaint“We take the privacy of our users seriously. We're aware of the complaint and are reviewing it”[1]
Sources
- Illinois resident's class-action lawsuit alleges Claude chatbot violates state privacy law – NaturalNews.comnaturalnews.com · October 7, 2026
How this record is classified. Severity N: a legal action or test finding, not a harm. Evidence: Alleged, meaning one party's claim.
The facts in At a glance and in Every fact and its source are quoted from the sources listed. The summary, What the AI did and What this means for you are written from those sources and checked against them automatically before publication. Records reflect what has been disclosed, not everything that has happened. Incidents are found through news feeds and the GDELT Project.
