This comes on the heels of a report claiming that Google is violating the Biometric Information Privacy Act over using the face regrouping tool in the Google Photos app. As per the lawsuit details, Google has used this tool to sort faces in the pictures taken by users. However, the company did this without the user’s permission. Illinois residents who appeared in a photo on the app between May 1, 2015, and April 25, 2022, can now try their luck at getting a portion of this $100 million class-action settlement.
Google denies allegations but must pay $ 100 million to Illinois residents
The settlement was filed in the state’s Cook County Circuit Court on April 14. Of course, Google has not accepted any of these allegations. But it has agreed to take corrective action so that it can continue to operate under state law. “Defendant will develop, publish and abide by a retention policy in which it will commit to deleting face models or face templates associated with Google Photos user’s accounts,” the settlement notes. Google must also take some security measures to protect the data available to it. The company undertakes not to sell, lease, or trade face templates or face models to any third-party center. Google should also store, transmit and protect data from disclosure. The Illinois residents who think they can be eligible for receiving a portion of this $100 can submit a claim here. The approval hearing will be held on September 28, and the payment will be set 90 days after the settlement is approved. The amount of payment to each eligible person depends on the number and validity of the claims. The privacy allegations against Big Tech have significantly increased in recent years. Most of these charges relate to intercepting users and sharing their data with third-party companies. A few months ago, Meta paid $90 million to settle a data privacy lawsuit over intercepting and exploiting users’ cookies. Big Tech also has numerous privacy lawsuits outside of the United States.
