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- The $ 650 million settlement is one of the largest ever in a U.S. privacy lawsuit.
- The lawsuit claimed that Facebook violated an Illinois law prohibiting the collection of biometric data without consent.
- About 1.6 million claimants will receive a payment of at least $ 345, according to the lawsuit.
- Visit Insider’s Business section for more stories.
A federal judge has approved a settlement in which Facebook will pay out $ 650 million to users who sued the social media company for its tagging function.
The settlement, which is one of the largest ever in a privacy lawsuit, was a “historic result,” U.S. Northern District Judge James Donato said in his order on Friday. . About 1.6 million people who joined the lawsuit will receive a payment of at least $ 345, according to the lawsuit.
“Overall, the settlement is a major victory for consumers in the highly controversial area of digital privacy,” Judge Donato wrote. “The issue of permanence makes this settlement all the more valuable as Facebook and other big tech companies continue to fight the proposition that a breach of statutory privacy is real harm.”
The class action lawsuit was first filed in Illinois in 2015. Facebook users claimed the company had violated state biometric privacy law, which prohibits a private entity from collect, store or use identifiers or biometric information without prior notification and written consent.
The lawsuit claimed that Facebook created and stored a face template for Illinois users as of June 2011, as part of its feature to promote tagging – or identification – of people in photos. “The group members alleged that Facebook collected and stored their biometric data – namely digital scans of their faces – without notice or consent,” the settlement order says.
Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the finalization of the lawsuit. The social media giant had fought the suit, saying it had always disclosed its facial recognition technology. He also indicated that users have the option to turn it off.
This is not the first time that Facebook has received a denial for its facial recognition feature. In 2019, Facebook began requiring users to agree to use their facial recognition tool, after the FTC fined the company $ 5 billion for its role in the breach of privacy. Cambridge Analytica, as previously reported by Insider.
Facebook initially tried to settle the lawsuit in Illinois for $ 550 million, but the presiding judge rejected the offer.
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