On 4 October 2024, the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Buenos Aires City filed a class action lawsuit against the Government of the City of Buenos Aires (“GCBA”) before the First Instance Courts of the Contentious Administrative Court. The lawsuit aims to protect consumers from the risks of face and voice cloning through AI platforms accessible on the internet through the misuse of biometric data.
The lawsuit arises from the fact that multiple AI platforms make it easy to replicate the voice and image of individuals by accessing these services over the internet without requiring the explicit consent of the data subjects. The prosecution conducted technical tests on various platforms and found that, by using voice or image samples, users could generate clones without any identity verification or warnings about the use of their personal data.
The lawsuit is based on several regulations. It invokes articles of the Consumer Protection Law and the Personal Data Protection Law, which establish consumers’ right to information, security and dignified treatment. In addition, it is argued that the GCBA has the obligation to exercise its consumer police power to protect citizens from abusive commercial practices and to guarantee the security of the biometric data used.
The prosecution requests that the government take concrete measures to block access to these websites and conduct an awareness campaign about the risks associated with the use of these services. This lawsuit sets a precedent in the protection of consumers’ rights in the face and voice cloning through AI, the first such lawsuit in Latin America.
