Google Owes Photos Users in Illinois Some Money for Scanning Faces! Here’s How to Claim

Google owes some Google Photos users based in Illinois some money as part of its whopping $100 million worth of settlement for a class action lawsuit, which raises privacy concerns from users of its app.

Following the settlement of the search engine tech giant in its class action suit, eligible Illinois residents could now start filing for a claim.

Google Owes Photos Users in Illinois Some Money

Essentially, Google now owes some of its users a few bucks. AS per a news story by NBC Chicago, eligible Illinois residents would receive a slice of the $100 million settlement fund after filing their claims.

However, it is to note that the hundred million still has to pay for other legal stuff like court fees, as well as other expenses during the lawsuit. Whatever is left from these deductions goes straight to the affected Google Photos users.

Google Photos Face Scanning Lawsuit

According to a recent report by Gizmodo, plaintiffs brought the tech giant Google to court for a class action lawsuit.

The suit alleges that Google goes against the provisions of the Biometric Information Privacy Act.

Gizmodo explains that the act requires private firms to make a written policy available to the public when scanning faces, along with other biometrics like iris scans and fingerprints.

The suit further cites that a feature on Google Photos was scanning the faces in the images on the platform.

The said feature allows users to look at compiled photos of a specific person. For instance, Google Photos groups all of the images, which includes your face. The same goes for your friends and family members. It is all thanks to the face geometry collection that Google does.

However, here is where the problem begins:

The lawsuit alleges that "Google is actively collecting, storing, and using-without providing notice, obtaining informed written consent or publishing data retention policies"

Google Settlement: How to Claim

NBC Chicago notes what makes an Illinois resident eligible for the claim. The settlement website says that an image of your face should have appeared on Google Photos from around May 1, 2015, up until April 25, 2022.

Gizmodo suggests that the claim could go as high as $400 for a single person, but it still depends on how many folks out there would want to get their claims.

Illinois residents could submit their claims here until Sept. 24.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Teejay Boris