MAC Lawsuit Highlights Privacy Risks in AI Beauty Tools

The personal care industry’s growing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools is creating significant legal exposure around consumer data privacy and informed consent. A federal court ruling denying MAC Cosmetics’ motion to dismiss a biometric data privacy suit—filed by a consumer alleging that the brand’s virtual try-on services collected her facial geometry without adequate disclosure or written consent—is drawing scrutiny to how statutory frameworks like the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) apply to AI-driven personalization technologies.

Ceren Canal Aruoba argues that this case turns on a critical gap between the technical realities of AI-enabled data collection and what consumers comprehend at the point of interaction. Disclosures, even when provided, may not be fully processed when consumer attention is directed toward the immediate experience. Frameworks like BIPA, which permit claims without proof of actual harm and provide for statutory damages, can create heightened incentives for classwide litigation as these technologies scale.

Ms. Canal Aruoba predicts that AI-related litigation in the beauty and personal care sector may extend beyond biometric privacy to encompass algorithmic bias, transparency, and consumer deception—areas where AI systems may shape beliefs, perceptions, and decision-making in ways that are not apparent to consumers. She highlights the growing importance of cross-functional AI governance across legal, regulatory, marketing, and product teams as courts shift their focus from what companies formally disclose to what consumers reasonably understand.