Class-action lawsuits have been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Nvidia, Samsung, Adobe, and ElevenLabs. These companies are accused of collecting voice recordings from journalists, podcasters, and voice actors to train their AI systems without prior consent. The plaintiffs, including Chicago journalist Carol Marin and Pulitzer Prize winners Yohance Lacour and Alison Flowers, are invoking Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act, which requires written consent before collecting biometric data. The law firm Loevy & Loevy, representing the plaintiffs, described the alleged conduct as potentially one of the largest biometric privacy violations ever committed. This legislation allows private citizens to sue for statutory damages, strengthening the legal standing of these actions.
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