Appeals panel says arbitrator will decide if minor can sign contract, lead IL biometrics class …

A federal appeals court has ruled a judge can’t void Snapchat’s user agreement simply because the user who signed it was a minor. The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion March 24 addressing a class action lawsuit with a minor lead plaintiff, identified only as K.F.C.  Seventh Circuit Judge Frank Easterbrook wrote the opinion; Judges Amy St. Eve and Thomas Kirsch concurred. According to Easterbrook, Illinois resident K.F.C. was 11 when she opened an account on social media platforim Snapchat, even though the software’s enrollment terms require users must be at least 13. After using the service for a few years, K.F.C. sued Snap Inc., alleging Snapchat violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act by failing to obtain consent to use its facial recognition technology. The lawsuit also accuses Snap of failing to follow BIPA’s data disclosure and retention guidelines. Snap argued K.F.C. ratified the user agreement through her continued use of the software and also said BIPA doesn’t apply to its service. Although Snap is incorporated in Delaware and has its main office in California, K.F.C. lives in the Southern District of Illinois, where U.S. District Judge David Dugan dismissed her complaint in June 2021. Dugan…
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