Video-editing platform CapCut has allegedly collected data from millions of users without proper consent, a lawsuit filed in Illinois states.
ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, also runs CapCut. The suit, filed on July 28th, states CapCut allegedly doesn’t notify users of its data practices and doesn’t require them to give consent.
The Record, which first reported on the lawsuit, highlights one plaintiff that was able to use CapCut without signing up for an account. At the time, the plaintiff was in the seventh grade, and the app allegedly didn’t require parental consent or that the user read the privacy policy.
The lawsuit labels the privacy concerns as “particularly significant” as the China-based company is legally required to share information with the Chinese government. The platform is “heavily promoted” on TikTok, which also adds to concerns.
The actions further violated Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by collecting voiceprints and face scans without informing the user.
Other information CapCut allegedly collected includes geolocations, names, email addresses, social media accounts, and telephone numbers.
“Defendants unjustly profit from the secret harvesting of a massive array of private and personally identifiable CapCut user data and content that they can use for targeted advertising, improvements to defendants’ artificial intelligence technologies, patent applications, and the development…and use of…other products.”
CapCut had 400 million global downloads in 2022. It also has 200 million active users every month.
Several jurisdictions in the U.S. have banned the use of TikTok, actions that many governing bodies in Canada have also followed.
Image credit: Shutterstock
Source: United States District Court Northern District of Illinois Via: The Record
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