Snapchat users in Illinois could soon be getting a share of the mega $35 million payout that the firm recently agreed on after a privacy lawsuit was headed its way.
According to a new report published by the Chicago Tribune, a class action lawsuit went on to allege how the app’s filters and lenses went against the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act.
Not only was the app collecting users’ data but also storing it without any form of consent provided, the lawsuit went on to add.
For those who may not be aware, the state of Illinois reportedly has some of the most strict rules and regulations in place in terms of organizations grabbing a hold of residents’ information. This can be as simple or complex and includes the likes of fingerprints to even iris and face scans too.
Illinois orders firms to mention in clear writing why such information or data is getting collected in the first place and for how long it would be stored. Similarly, these companies are warned against selling or even transferring such details that it calls out as sensitive.
As far as who are those residents that are eligible to gain a share from this endeavor, well, it’s going to be those Snap users between the period of November 17th in 2015 to those in 2022.
On average, the share is approximated to be around $58 to $117 as mentioned in a published report by the Chicago Tribute recently.
But still, we’re waiting for the final approval of this payment settlement. Anyone who feels they deserve a share and are eligible can avail of it till the end of September by submitting their own claims.
Despite the news of this settlement, Snapchat continues to deny all of the allegations put up against it. According to them, there was no violation of the BIPA. In addition, we’re hearing statements pop up from the platform’s spokesperson too who denied the accusation.
He added that the company’s lens feature does not store users’ biometric data for the purpose of identifying different people or for reasons related to facial identification. Any data that is used by Snapchat’s lenses were outlined as staying on user devices and won’t be sent off to the app’s servers.
Snapchat says this is the reason why it’s stepping up more security measures on the feature, adding a consent notice for the feature inside the app for users in Illinois, which we feel is the safest way to move ahead.
Read next: Meta Reaches $37+ Million Settlement After Being Accused Of Tracking Users' Location Without Consent
According to a new report published by the Chicago Tribune, a class action lawsuit went on to allege how the app’s filters and lenses went against the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act.
Not only was the app collecting users’ data but also storing it without any form of consent provided, the lawsuit went on to add.
For those who may not be aware, the state of Illinois reportedly has some of the most strict rules and regulations in place in terms of organizations grabbing a hold of residents’ information. This can be as simple or complex and includes the likes of fingerprints to even iris and face scans too.
Illinois orders firms to mention in clear writing why such information or data is getting collected in the first place and for how long it would be stored. Similarly, these companies are warned against selling or even transferring such details that it calls out as sensitive.
As far as who are those residents that are eligible to gain a share from this endeavor, well, it’s going to be those Snap users between the period of November 17th in 2015 to those in 2022.
On average, the share is approximated to be around $58 to $117 as mentioned in a published report by the Chicago Tribute recently.
But still, we’re waiting for the final approval of this payment settlement. Anyone who feels they deserve a share and are eligible can avail of it till the end of September by submitting their own claims.
Despite the news of this settlement, Snapchat continues to deny all of the allegations put up against it. According to them, there was no violation of the BIPA. In addition, we’re hearing statements pop up from the platform’s spokesperson too who denied the accusation.
He added that the company’s lens feature does not store users’ biometric data for the purpose of identifying different people or for reasons related to facial identification. Any data that is used by Snapchat’s lenses were outlined as staying on user devices and won’t be sent off to the app’s servers.
Snapchat says this is the reason why it’s stepping up more security measures on the feature, adding a consent notice for the feature inside the app for users in Illinois, which we feel is the safest way to move ahead.
Read next: Meta Reaches $37+ Million Settlement After Being Accused Of Tracking Users' Location Without Consent
