Facebook to pay $650 million for settlement against digital privacy violation

A US federal judge on Sunday pronounced a US$650 million (approximately 47.8 billion rupees) settlement for Facebook in a privacy lawsuit that involved one of the largest breaches after the social media giant allegedly collected biometric data and photo facial tags without users’ permission. Prosecutor James Donato ruled the transaction against the lawsuit related to the privacy invasion and illegal use of consumer data filed in 2015 in Illinois. Sources of Chicago Tribune confirmed that the CEO Mark Zuckerberg may be required to sling the cheque within two months unless the court’s verdict is appealed. As many as 1.6 million Facebook users that were impacted have filed for the claims. 

In the ruling, the US district judge said that in any measure, the $650 million settlement of the biometric privacy class action is a landmark result, according to the court’s document cited by AP. Approving the settlement, he further wrote: ‘“It is one of the largest settlements ever for a privacy violation, and it will put at least $345 into the hands of every class member interested in being compensated.” The lawsuit was filed by a Chicago-based attorney Jay Edelson, who challenged social network’s data-mining practices. 

“It will put at least $345 into the hands of every class member interested in being compensated,” he wrote, calling it “a major win for consumers in the hotly contested area of digital privacy," District Judge James Donato said in an AP report. 

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Largest cash settlement

In the aftermath of over 5 years of litigation that involved at least three law firms that contested a legal case on behalf of Illinois consumers, the pronounced one of the "largest cash settlement” a firm ever paid against the privacy lawsuit, according to attorney’s statements to Chicago tribune. Initially, Facebook had agreed to pay approximately $550 million, but an additional $100 million was added by judge Donato. The settlement, however, was still far less in the amount the social media firm paid as a penalty to the Federal Trade Commission over consumer privacy violations, which was close to $5 billion. 

“We are pleased to have reached a settlement so we can move past this matter, which is in the best interest of our community and our shareholders,” Facebook, which is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, said in a statement.

Facebook violated Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act  (BIPA) adopted in 2008 after it gathered the facial recognition data without the consumer’s consent. The US state’s stringent law prohibits companies from gathering any biometric data of users such as fingerprints, voiceprints, hand or face geometry, and retinal or iris scans unless given an agreement from those individuals whose details the company collects. 

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