A California federal judge approved a $ 650 million deal in 2015, a class action lawsuit against Facebook for using facial tagging on photos.
US District Judge James Donato called the deal a “historic outcome” in a lawsuit on Friday, and said he “will put at least $ 345 in the hands of all students interested in being compensated” .
“Overall, the deal is a huge victory for consumers in the highly contested area of digital privacy,” wrote Donato.
The case revolved around Facebook’s “tag suggestions” program, which identifies people’s faces in photos sent to the platform for tagging users.
According to the background provided in the lawsuit, the claimants alleged that the platform used and stored digital scans of their faces without notice or consent, in violation of Illinois privacy laws.
Lawyer Jay Edelson, who originally filed the lawsuit in Illinois in April 2015, told The Chicago Tribune that the settlement was a “big deal”.
“It sends a very clear message that in Illinois, biometric privacy rights are here to stay,” he said.
Edelson signed the agreement in Twitter, writing that it was “the largest cash-money class action settlement in history.”
Edelson’s company did not comment further on the deal.
Facebook told the Associated Press in a statement: “We are pleased to have reached an agreement so that we can go beyond this issue, which is in the best interest of our community and our shareholders.”
The Hill contacted Facebook for comment.
Facebook ended the photo tagging suggestions in 2019 and instead opted for a template to allow users to control what data the platform has on their face.