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.

  • By Haley Samsel
  • Jan 31, 2020

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

  • Security Industry Association Announces the 2026 Security Megatrends

    The Security Industry Association (SIA) has identified and forecasted the 2026 Security Megatrends, which form the basis of SIA’s signature annual Security Megatrends report defining the top 10 factors influencing both near- and long-term change in the global security industry. Read Now

  • The Future of Access Control: Cloud-Based Solutions for Safer Workplaces

    Access controls have revolutionized the way we protect our people, assets and operations. Gone are the days of cumbersome keychains and the security liabilities they introduced, but it’s a mistake to think that their evolution has reached its peak. Read Now

  • A Look at AI

    Large language models (LLMs) have taken the world by storm. Within months of OpenAI launching its AI chatbot, ChatGPT, it amassed more than 100 million users, making it the fastest-growing consumer application in history. Read Now

  • First, Do No Harm: Responsibly Applying Artificial Intelligence

    It was 2022 when early LLMs (Large Language Models) brought the term “AI” into mainstream public consciousness and since then, we’ve seen security corporations and integrators attempt to develop their solutions and sales pitches around the biggest tech boom of the 21st century. However, not all “artificial intelligence” is equally suitable for security applications, and it’s essential for end users to remain vigilant in understanding how their solutions are utilizing AI. Read Now

  • Improve Incident Response With Intelligent Cloud Video Surveillance

    Video surveillance is a vital part of business security, helping institutions protect against everyday threats for increased employee, customer, and student safety. However, many outdated surveillance solutions lack the ability to offer immediate insights into critical incidents. This slows down investigations and limits how effectively teams can respond to situations, creating greater risks for the organization. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • 4K Video Decoder

    3xLOGIC’s VH-DECODER-4K is perfect for use in organizations of all sizes in diverse vertical sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality, education and commercial premises.

  • 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.”

  • AC Nio

    AC Nio

    Aiphone, a leading international manufacturer of intercom, access control, and emergency communication products, has introduced the AC Nio, its access control management software, an important addition to its new line of access control solutions.