Google has finally agreed to settle its mega class-action lawsuit which accused the tech giant of privacy violation against a number of Illinois residents.
All of those residents whose faces were seen in an image put up by Google Photos in the past seven years will be eligible of receiving a payout. For this, they will need to file claims in regards to the company misusing their images. Only then can they expect to receive a portion of the mega settlement that the company agreed upon paying.
The lawsuit accuses the search engine giant of violating the rights of Illinois residents, where they not only collected users’ biometric data without taking prior consent but they also stored the information without any given notice.
This particular lawsuit was filed under the state of Illinois’s BIPA law which forces firms to get companies’ consent prior to them making use of their biometric data.
The Plaintiffs have accused Google of violating the BIPA by using group images of residents that had similar faces that were originally put up by the user themselves, a feature that Google calls Face Grouping.
The website that represented the people behind this particular lawsuit has outlined all of those users that are eligible to receive a chunk of the settlement. They include Illinois residents whose images appeared inside Google Photos between May 1st of 2015 and April 25th of 2022.
For now, we just know that the amount could vary to about $200 and $400 and that solely is dependent on that particular claim. Moreover, any person is liable for sending out claims if they feel they’re eligible for the final payout share.
A statement by the plaintiffs in charge of filing the lawsuit was recently seen. It spoke in detail about how the action is yet to enter into a trial as well as the court. And that means there is no court ruling that has decided in their favor or in Google’s.
The duo has instead to clear matters out via a settlement as this would be the best way to prevent increased costs as well as the risks that are associated with a particular trial. Moreover, it is also an indication of how the deserving parties will get their due share now instead of years down the line.
We also know that the documents relating to the settlement have clearly stated that Google has denied taking part in any wrongdoing as well as the accusations put forward by the plaintiff’s side. But the tech giant is going to delete any face templates that may be associated with its platform.
Read next: Will Google’s New Pixel Watch Make a Mark on the Smart Watch Industry?
All of those residents whose faces were seen in an image put up by Google Photos in the past seven years will be eligible of receiving a payout. For this, they will need to file claims in regards to the company misusing their images. Only then can they expect to receive a portion of the mega settlement that the company agreed upon paying.
The lawsuit accuses the search engine giant of violating the rights of Illinois residents, where they not only collected users’ biometric data without taking prior consent but they also stored the information without any given notice.
This particular lawsuit was filed under the state of Illinois’s BIPA law which forces firms to get companies’ consent prior to them making use of their biometric data.
The Plaintiffs have accused Google of violating the BIPA by using group images of residents that had similar faces that were originally put up by the user themselves, a feature that Google calls Face Grouping.
The website that represented the people behind this particular lawsuit has outlined all of those users that are eligible to receive a chunk of the settlement. They include Illinois residents whose images appeared inside Google Photos between May 1st of 2015 and April 25th of 2022.
For now, we just know that the amount could vary to about $200 and $400 and that solely is dependent on that particular claim. Moreover, any person is liable for sending out claims if they feel they’re eligible for the final payout share.
A statement by the plaintiffs in charge of filing the lawsuit was recently seen. It spoke in detail about how the action is yet to enter into a trial as well as the court. And that means there is no court ruling that has decided in their favor or in Google’s.
The duo has instead to clear matters out via a settlement as this would be the best way to prevent increased costs as well as the risks that are associated with a particular trial. Moreover, it is also an indication of how the deserving parties will get their due share now instead of years down the line.
We also know that the documents relating to the settlement have clearly stated that Google has denied taking part in any wrongdoing as well as the accusations put forward by the plaintiff’s side. But the tech giant is going to delete any face templates that may be associated with its platform.
Read next: Will Google’s New Pixel Watch Make a Mark on the Smart Watch Industry?
