Match.com wants FTC court proceedings over users' biometric data privacy kept quiet

Online dating company Match Group wants the court proceedings in an investigation being carried out by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for allegedly sharing users' photos with a facial recognition company to proceed in secret. The news comes from a Reuters investigation, after it spotted an FTC petition filed on 26 May forcing Match to provide documents related to an alleged 2014 data-sharing deal between Match subsidiary OkCupid and biometric solutions provider Clarifai. The background is that in 2019 a New York Times article claimed that Clarifai built its database of faces for biometric algorithm training using OkCupid user photos provided by an OkCupid founder and Clarifai investor. At the time, both OkCupid and Match denied any commercial agreement with Clarifai, so in 2020 the FTC followed up by demanding documentation around that alleged deal. A lawsuit filed under Illinois' BIPA was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, and the companies hid behind attorney-client and work-product privilege to avoid providing the requested 136 documents, which in turn led to May's petition by the FTC.