Facebook Agrees to Pay Out $550 Million in Settlement of Facial Recognition Lawsuit

Thanks to an Illinois privacy law, eligible users will soon be able to apply for payments from Facebook for using facial scans without permission.

To settle a class-action lawsuit in Illinois, Facebook announced on Wednesday that it will pay $550 million over its use of facial recognition technology to suggest names of people in users’ photos.

The suit claimed that Facebook had violated an Illinois biometric privacy law when it used facial data for Tag Suggestions, a function that recognized people from across the site in people’s shared photos. The data was taken without permission and without telling residents how long the data would be maintained, according to the lawsuit.

The agreement will be paid out to eligible Illinois users and the plaintiffs for their legal fees. Facebook disclosed the settlement as part of its release of quarterly financial results. When compared with the amount of revenue that Facebook generated in the fourth quarter -- about $21 billion in the last quarter of 2019 -- the payout amounts to a “rounding error for Facebook,” according to The New York Times.

“We decided to pursue a settlement as it was in the best interest of our community and our shareholders to move past this matter,” a Facebook spokesman said in a statement to the Times.

Read More: FTC’s $5 Billion Fine On Facebook Should Serve As ‘Warning’ For Companies Concerned About Data Security

Privacy advocates called the settlement a victory in terms of holding Facebook accountable for the way it handles user data. The company has come under fire since the 2016 presidential election for allowing apps and third-party firms, including the infamous Cambridge Analytica, to mine data and use it to tailor political ads and more toward users.

The case showed the potential power of state laws to police the ways companies can collect and maintain data about their users. Three states have biometric privacy laws, and under the Illinois law, companies have to obtain permission before collecting someone’s fingerprints, facial data or other biological data. Residents can sue companies for up to $5,000 per violation under the law.

“The Illinois law has real teeth. It pretty much stopped Facebook in its tracks,” Marc Rotenberg, the executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told the Times. “Tech firms and other companies that collect biometric data must be very nervous right now.”

Facebook has discontinued using facial recognition in Europe when regulators questioned the company’s consent system. More recently, in 2018, the use of facial scans was reintroduced as an option for European users. Facebook also updated its facial recognition settings for some users last year and included more information about how that data is collected and used on the platform, according to the Times.

About the Author

Haley Samsel is an Associate Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

Featured

  • New Report Reveals Top Trends Transforming Access Controller Technology

    Mercury Security, a provider in access control hardware and open platform solutions, has published its Trends in Access Controllers Report, based on a survey of over 450 security professionals across North America and Europe. The findings highlight the controller’s vital role in a physical access control system (PACS), where the device not only enforces access policies but also connects with readers to verify user credentials—ranging from ID badges to biometrics and mobile identities. With 72% of respondents identifying the controller as a critical or important factor in PACS design, the report underscores how the choice of controller platform has become a strategic decision for today’s security leaders. Read Now

  • Overwhelming Majority of CISOs Anticipate Surge in Cyber Attacks Over the Next Three Years

    An overwhelming 98% of chief information security officers (CISOs) expect a surge in cyber attacks over the next three years as organizations face an increasingly complex and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven digital threat landscape. This is according to new research conducted among 300 CISOs, chief information officers (CIOs), and senior IT professionals by CSC1, the leading provider of enterprise-class domain and domain name system (DNS) security. Read Now

  • ASIS International Introduces New ANSI-Approved Investigations Standard

    • Guard Services
  • Cloud Security Alliance Brings AI-Assisted Auditing to Cloud Computing

    The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, today introduced an innovative addition to its suite of Security, Trust, Assurance and Risk (STAR) Registry assessments with the launch of Valid-AI-ted, an AI-powered, automated validation system. The new tool provides an automated quality check of assurance information of STAR Level 1 self-assessments using state-of-the-art LLM technology. Read Now

  • Report: Nearly 1 in 5 Healthcare Leaders Say Cyberattacks Have Impacted Patient Care

    Omega Systems, a provider of managed IT and security services, today released new research that reveals the growing impact of cybersecurity challenges on leading healthcare organizations and patient safety. According to the 2025 Healthcare IT Landscape Report, 19% of healthcare leaders say a cyberattack has already disrupted patient care, and more than half (52%) believe a fatal cyber-related incident is inevitable within the next five years. Read Now

New Products

  • EasyGate SPT and SPD

    EasyGate SPT SPD

    Security solutions do not have to be ordinary, let alone unattractive. Having renewed their best-selling speed gates, Cominfo has once again demonstrated their Art of Security philosophy in practice — and confirmed their position as an industry-leading manufacturers of premium speed gates and turnstiles.

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”

  • Compact IP Video Intercom

    Viking’s X-205 Series of intercoms provide HD IP video and two-way voice communication - all wrapped up in an attractive compact chassis.