DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - Payments from a class action lawsuit against Facebook have arrived in some central Illinois mailboxes.
More than a million Facebook users in Illinois are part of a seven-year class action lawsuit against the social media platform. The suit alleged it broke the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act by collecting and storing biometric data of users without their consent.
According to the settlement administrator, "Facebook users in Illinois sued Facebook claiming that its 'Tag Suggestions' feature and other features involving facial recognition technology, violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act."
"Biometric information is much different than a password or some other identifier. You can change a password (but) you can't change your finger print or face print," said Ed Yohnka, director of communications and public policy for the ACLU.
NBC Chicago reported that law, passed in 2008, said companies are not allowed to collect, store or give out "biometric data," which includes things like face or fingerprint scans, without first giving notice and obtaining personal consent. The act also requires companies to specify how the information would be retained and when it would be destroyed.
Facebook denied all allegations of wrongdoing and liability.
Residents in central Illinois started to receive their payments from the $650 million settlement fund. Decatur resident Carol told WAND News she received her check in the mail.
"I remember I had filed a claim. I saw it on the internet and I never thought much about it since," she said.
Carol said she was excited when she opened the the envelope to see the check worth hundreds of dollars. However, she was concerned it was a scam.
"I was just really cautious," she said.
She told WAND News she spoke with her bank, which told her the check was legit.
"It's going straight to the savings," she explained when asked what she was going to do the money.
Copyright 2022. WANDTV. All Rights Reserved.
