Snap Accepts A $35 Million Settlement In A Lawsuit Regarding Illinois Privacy
- Tech News
- August 25, 2022
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Snapchat users in Illinois who use filters or lenses may be eligible for compensation. The state of Illinois and Snap reportedly agreed to a $35 million settlement this month in a class-action lawsuit related to how it collected user data, the Chicago Tribune reported.
According to the lawsuit, Snapchat filters and lenses illegally collect and store users’ biometric data, violating the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). Illinois has some of the strictest regulations when it comes to regulating businesses that collect vital data on residents, such as fingerprints, iris, retina scans, and facial scans. State law restricts the sale and transfer of data and requires companies to inform customers in writing why and for how long the biometric data is being collected.
The Chicago Tribune believes that Illinois residents who have used lenses and filters so far between November 17, 2015, may be entitled to a small portion of the settlement, estimated to total between $58 and $117. Users who think they may be entitled to a settlement have until September 24 to file a claim, and here’s how. The deal is still awaiting final approval.
However, Snap denies violating the BIPA. Snap representative Pete Boogaard said that Snapchat Lenses “do not collect biometric data that can be used to identify a specific person or engage in facial recognition.” A Snap representative also added that all data collected and used by Lenses is programmed to remain with users and cannot be accessed or transferred to Snap’s servers in any way.
Snap Accepts A $35 Million Settlement In A Lawsuit Regarding
Boogaard also said, “While we are confident that Lenses has not violated BIPA, out of an abundance of caution and as a sign of our commitment to user privacy, earlier this year we rolled out an in-app consent notice for Snapchat users in Illinois.”
Still, this isn’t the first time Illinois residents have sued companies that collect biometric data. Earlier this week, a $92 million settlement was approved in a separate case alleging TikTok violated Illinois law. Additionally, Google was criticized for paying up to $100 million in June for the face grouping feature in Google Photos that allegedly violated BIPA. Facebook agreed to pay $650 million in 2021 to settle a class-action lawsuit similar to BIPA. All of these are various BIPA violations that tech companies have been accused of in Illinois.
Meanwhile, Meta was awarded $37.5 million this week for allegations that it violated California law and user privacy by tracking users’ locations. According to Reuters, Facebook users claimed that the company used their IP addresses to target ads even after location services were turned off. Meta chose not to comment on the situation.
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