Politics and regulation·October 15, 2026, 05:10

Grok user sues, claiming chatbot stored data on his face

AI-generated from the sources listed, with automated source checks.

An Illinois user has filed a class action lawsuit alleging that Grok scanned and stored facial data from uploaded selfies without consent. The allegations are the plaintiff's and have not been tested in court.

A user of the AI chatbot Grok has filed a class action lawsuit in the US. He claims the chatbot collected and stored information about his face without permission. According to MediaPost and NeoTeo, the case was filed on October 7, 2026, in the federal district court for the Northern District of Illinois.

The plaintiff is Cesar Padilla, who lives in Illinois. The suit is directed at Grok's provider, which MediaPost calls SpaceXAI. All information here consists of the plaintiff's allegations, and they have not been tested in court.

What does the plaintiff allege?

Padilla alleges that he uploaded selfies to Grok and asked for various images, including a professional portrait photo. He claims that during this process Grok automatically detected and scanned his face.

According to the complaint, Grok extracted geometric data about the contours of the face and about the proportions and placement of facial features such as the eyes, nose, mouth and jaw. This kind of data is called biometric data, meaning information about the body's distinctive characteristics that can be used to recognize a person.

Padilla says he did not consent to Grok collecting or storing such information. He also says he was not aware that Grok used facial processing technology to extract it. According to NeoTeo, the complaint further alleges that Grok kept the data instead of deleting it after processing.

The law behind the case

The lawsuit is based on Illinois' biometric privacy law, the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). It requires companies to disclose their policy on biometric data and obtain written consent before collecting it.

The proposed class includes all Grok users in Illinois who uploaded images of their face and asked Grok to analyze the face or create content from the images.

What does he demand?

Padilla is seeking damages. BIPA provides for up to $5,000 per violation. He is also seeking an injunction against future collection of biometric data and deletion of the data that has already been collected.

MediaPost mentions no response from the company behind Grok, and the sources do not make clear whether the company has responded. Both articles are based on the complaint and may be derived from the same original reporting.