Deadline passed to apply in Google settlement with Illinois residents for $100M

Jim Hagerty, Rockford Register Star
·2 min read
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This photo taken on August 23, 2018 shows the Google logo on display at the Smart China Expo at Chongqing International Expo Center in southwest China's Chongqing.
This photo taken on August 23, 2018 shows the Google logo on display at the Smart China Expo at Chongqing International Expo Center in southwest China's Chongqing.

Illinois residents are eligible to receive part of a $100 million class-action settlement involving another tech giant.

As with the class-action complaint against Snapchat, Google was accused of violating the Biometric Information Privacy Act regarding its use of a face regrouping tool in the Google Photos app.

Google used the tool to sort faces it spots in photographs by similarity. However, according to the suit, the company did not receive consent from millions of users before using the technology.

Related: Illinois residents bring class-action lawsuit against Snapchat. Here's why

Who is eligible?

As a result, Illinois residents who appeared in a photo on the app between May 1, 2015, and April 25, 2022, may be eligible for payment.

Has this happened before?

What each claimant will be paid isn't known although a similar settlement involving Facebook saw 1.6 million users receive between $200 and $400. Payment amounts will depend on the number and validity of claims.

What does the settlement mean?

The settlement was filed on April 14 in Cook County Circuit Court. The filing says Google does not admit to any wrongdoing but agrees to put measures in place to stay in compliance with Illinois privacy laws in the future.

“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 states.

Google also agrees to not sell, lease, or trade face templates or face models to any third parties, and will store, transmit and protect from disclosure face templates or face models using security measures that are as secure as the ones it uses to protect its other sensitive information.

When is the deadline to submit a claim to be part of the class-action lawsuit?

The deadline to file is Sept. 24. Payments are expected to be sent out 90 days after the settlement is approved. An approval hearing is set for Sept. 28.

How to submit a claim

Submit a claim here.

Jim Hagerty: jhagerty@rrstar.com; @jimhagerty

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Google will pay Illinois residents $100M in class-action settlement