In a class action lawsuit that has been going on for more than five years because of the unauthorized collection of biometric data from users, the courts, prosecutors and Facebook have reached a settlement. Facebook is committed to paying a total of 650 million US dollars to users from the US state of Illinois. That amounts to around 350 US dollars per user.

The procedure has already been 2015 and is based on Facebook’s storage and analysis of user photos. The social network had offered users to recognize and tag friends when saving images. To do this, not only was the uploaded photo scanned, but other photos and profiles were also searched to identify them in the new photo. This contradicts the strictest data protection laws in the USA, which differ depending on the state.

Higher penalty than originally intended In the US – In the state of Illinois, the Biometric Information Privacy Act states that automatic facial recognition may only be used with the explicit consent of the user. Facebook did not catch up with them. In order to avoid further negotiations that might have led to an even higher penalty, the social network agreed to a settlement of 550 million at the beginning of last year US dollars to.

This was not enough for the US district judge in charge. Both Judge James Donato and the prosecution estimated the amount to be paid out per Facebook user at only 150 US dollars per user. Donato stated verbatim: ” I’m not ready to let these companies get away with this so easily. ”

The disputed parties have therefore now agreed on a new settlement with a total of 650 million US dollars. By the end of the November deadline, around 1.6 million Illinois Facebook users had participated in the class action lawsuit. This means that the distribution per user after deduction of legal and court costs is approximately 350 US dollars.

The procedure is called ” In re Facebook Biometric Information Privacy Litigation ” and is under file number 3: 15 – cv – 03747 pending in the U.S. Federal District Court for Northern California. The official text of the court decision is not yet available.

The Hamburg data protection expert Johannes Caspar had also initiated proceedings against Facebook’s actions in Germany. After the social network removed the function after complaints from several European data protectionists, Casper also discontinued the procedure 2013. However, face recognition is now back. However, Facebook no longer automatically makes suggestions to tag people in photos, but users can activate it. This is to protect your own identity, for example if someone copies a profile.

(fds)