Why 1.6 million Americans will receive $400 from Facebook


Facebook has started paying out $397 to nearly 1.6 million social network users in the US state of Illinois. This is financial compensation related to a class action lawsuit against the Face Recognition tool.

It’s Christmas before time in Illinois, a Midwestern state in the United States with more than 12 million inhabitants. More than a tenth of them, or about 1.6 million souls, will receive a transfer of $397 (€377) in the coming days. Some Internet users, surprised to see this sum appear in their bank account, posted screenshots on social networks. It must be said that the genesis of the case dates back to 2015 and that some of them have probably forgotten their dispute with the firm of Mark Zuckerberg.

Indeed, this sum paid to this million and a half victims is the result of a legal battle won against the Face Recognition facial recognition system. This software, used by Facebook around the world – and in France – was responsible for recognizing the faces of your contacts and suggesting that they be tagged on the publication. Problem: Facebook didn’t really ask for consent to collect and analyze this data. The social media giant thus ended Face Recognition missions in 2019, probably so as not to risk further legal disputes.

A total bill of 650 million dollars

In 2015, a class action lawsuit involving 1.6 million people was first filed in Illinois, accusing Facebook of violating a privacy law that prohibits companies from collecting biometric data without telling users. . This appeal ended up landing on a judge’s desk and was certified despite Facebook’s desperate attempts to bury the case. Facebook eventually agreed to pay $550 million to avoid a lawsuit, which was later reassessed at $650 million.

If this case only concerns Illinois, it is because this US state has an obviously very solid law on the confidentiality of biometric information, passed in 2008, which allows consumers to sue companies for breaches of privacy. Lawsuits made possible when data such as fingerprints, retina scans or facial recognition are involved.





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