Facebook found itself wrapped under the biggest sum for a privacy lawsuit ever. The social media giant has reached a settlement to pay 650 million dollars for litigation of class-action. The lawsuit said that the tech giant had knowingly violated the privacy of its users through their feature of tagging on image posts. The settlement went ahead with a seal of approval by some federal judge at court. The claims were made by several of the social network’s users. About 1.6 million subscribers as of late reported.
As per this, over 1.6 million of the users who alleged that the firm had intervened their privacy through their biometrics features will receive a sum. The amount for every individual will be 345 dollars as per the order. The lawsuit stated that there was a breach by Facebook in the Illinois Biometrics Information Privacy Act. This was due to the company collecting scans that were digital of every user’s face. These data were stored in the firm’s interface with no warning or permission, or even notice.
James Donato, District Judge On Facebook’s Lawsuit
A rep for Facebook gave their opinions on the result of the lawsuit. But the District Judge, James Donato, also had his say on the historic settlement. He said that in any measure, the settlement of 650 million dollars was a “landmark” win. The judge of California’s Northern District mentioned in the order on Friday, acknowledging the settlement. He noted how this was a “major” victory for the consumers in the digital privacy world.
This litigation goes back to 2015. A representative for Facebook mentioned that they were “pleased” that the lawsuit had reached a certain settlement. They said it was all in the “best interest” of their shareholders and community. However, it denied any wrong actions.