Snap Agrees To $35 Million Settlement Over Illinois Privacy Lawsuit. Snapchat users in Illinois who used filters or lenses may be eligible for compensation. According to the Chicago Tribune, Illinois and Snap agreed to a $35 million settlement in a class action lawsuit over the manner in which user data was gathered this month.
Snapchat’s filters and lenses, according to the lawsuit, illegally collected and stored users’ biometric data in violation of the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). Illinois has some of the strictest regulations when it comes to regulating businesses that collect residents’ biometric data, such as fingerprints, iris and retina scans, and facial scans. The state law prohibits the sale and transfer of the data and requires businesses to inform customers in writing why their biometric data is being collected and how long it will be kept.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Illinois residents who used lenses and filters between November 17th, 2015 and the present may be eligible for a portion of the settlement, which is expected to range between $58 and $117. Users who believe they are eligible for the settlement have until September 24th to file a claim, and instructions are available here. The transaction is still pending final approval. Snap Agrees To $35 Million Settlement Over Illinois Privacy Lawsuit. Snapchat users in Illinois who used filters or lenses
Although this is not the first time Illinois residents have filed a lawsuit against companies that collect biometric data. Earlier this week, a $92 million settlement in a separate case alleging TikTok violated Illinois law was approved. In addition, Google was hit with a $100 million payment in June in relation to a face grouping feature in Google Photos that was allegedly in violation of BIPA. Facebook agreed to pay $650 million in 2021 to settle a comparable BIPA class action case. All of these are BIPA violations that technology companies have been accused of in Illinois.
Meanwhile, Meta was awarded $37.5 million this week for allegedly violating California law and user privacy by tracking users’ locations.
According to Reuters, Facebook users claim that the company used their IP addresses to target advertisements even after they disabled location services.
Meta chose not to comment on the situation.
