Judge approves $650 million settlement of Facebook privacy lawsuit linked to facial photo tagging

• The $650 million settlement is one of the largest-ever from a privacy lawsuit in the US.
• The suit claimed Facebook violated an Illinois law prohibiting collection of biometric data without consent.
• About 1.6 million claimants will receive a payout of at least $345, the lawsuit said.

A federal judge has approved a settlement in which Facebook will pay $650 million to users who sued the social media company over its tagging feature.

The settlement, which is one of the largest-ever from a privacy lawsuit, was a "landmark result," said US Judge James Donato of the Northern District of California in his Friday order. $4 the lawsuit will receive a payout of at least $345, the lawsuit said.

"Overall, the settlement is a major win for consumers in the $4," wrote Judge Donato. "The standing issue makes this settlement all the more valuable because Facebook and other big tech companies continue to fight the proposition that a statutory privacy violation is a genuine harm."

The class-action case was first filed in Illinois in 2015. Facebook users claimed the company had violated the state's Biometric Information Privacy Act, which prohibits a private entity from collecting, storing, or using biometric identifiers or information without prior notification and written consent.

The lawsuit claimed Facebook created and stored a face template for Illinois users starting in June, 2011, as part of its feature to promote tagging - or identifying - individuals in photos. "The class members alleged that Facebook collected and stored their biometric data - namely digital scans of their faces - without prior notice or consent," the settlement order said.

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the finalization of the lawsuit. The social media giant $4, saying it had always disclosed its facial recognition technology. It also said users had the option to turn it off.

$4 Facebook has received pushback for its facial-recognition feature. In 2019, Facebook began requiring users to opt-in to use their facial-recognition tool, after the FTC fined the company $5 billion for its role in the Cambridge Analytica privacy breach, $4

Facebook originally tried to settle the Illinois lawsuit for $550 million, but the judge presiding over the case rejected that offer.