Invasion of privacy: Facebook pays users $ 650 million

Sunday, February 28, 2021

Invasion of privacy
Facebook pays $ 650 million to users

Facebook collects the biometric data of millions of users in the USA – without them knowing about it. The group is accused of violating privacy laws. In court, the platform is now concluding a record settlement.

To settle a legal dispute over the violation of the privacy of 1.6 million users in the USA, the Internet company Facebook pays 650 million dollars (538 million euros) in compensation. According to documents that the AFP news agency saw, a federal court approved the agreement between Facebook and 1.6 million of its users in the state of Illinois.

In 2015, the Chicago prosecutor charged Facebook with collecting biometric data for facial recognition, which happened without users' knowledge. She argued that the California internet giant's actions violated a 2008 Illinois privacy law. After Facebook failed to quit, the company pledged $ 550 million to settle the lawsuit in January 2020.

Judge James Donato rejected the sum as insufficient. Donato described the amount of compensation that has now been agreed as "one of the highest comparisons ever for invasion of privacy". It is a great success for consumers "in the hotly contested area of ​​digital privacy". Each affected user will receive at least $ 345 in compensation. Facebook could not be reached for comment at first.