Facebook facial recognition faces class-action suit

Facebook must face a class action lawsuit over its use of facial recognition technology, a California judge has ruled. The lawsuit alleges that Facebook gathered biometric information without users' explicit consent. It involves the "tag suggestions" technology, which spots users' friends in uploaded photos; the lawsuit says this breaches Illinois state law. Facebook said the case had no merit and it would fight it vigorously. On Monday, US District Judge James Donato ruled to certify a class of Facebook users - a key legal hurdle for a class action suit.