A federal judge in California approved a $ 650 million settlement in 2015, a class action lawsuit against Facebook for using photo face tagging.
US District Judge James Donato called the settlement a “milestone” in a lawsuit on Friday, saying “it will put at least $ 345 in the hands of any class member interested in compensation.”
“Overall, the settlement is a big win for consumers in the hotly contested area of digital privacy,” Donato wrote.
The case centered on Facebook’s “tag suggestions” program, which identifies people’s faces in photos uploaded to the platform for users to tag.
According to the background provided in the lawsuit, the plaintiffs alleged that the platform used and stored digital scans of their faces without prior notice or consent, in violation of Illinois privacy laws.
Attorney Jay Edelson, who initially filed the suit in Illinois in April 2015, told The Chicago Tribune that the settlement was a “ big deal. ”
“It sends out a pretty clear signal that biometric privacy rights remain in Illinois,” he said.
Edelson celebrated the settlement Twitter, write that it was “the largest settlement in cash privacy classification history.”
Edelson’s firm had no additional comments on the settlement.
Facebook told The Associated Press in a statement, “We are delighted to have reached a settlement so that we can move forward with this matter, which is in the best interest of our community and our shareholders.”
The Hill has contacted Facebook for comment.
Facebook discontinued photo tagging suggestions in 2019 and instead opted for a model that allows users to control what data the platform has on their face.