Class Action Looks to Cover Illinois Residents Whose Faces Were Scanned from Pictures Uploaded to Google Photos [UPDATE]
Last Updated on October 10, 2022
Case Update
September 30, 2022 – Google Photos BIPA Settlement Granted Final Approval
The $100 million settlement detailed below has received the judge’s stamp of final approval, paving the way for payments to be sent out to those who filed valid claims.
The plaintiffs’ counsel estimated in their September 14 motion for final approval that each claimant would receive about $142, noting that the final amount could change depending on how many claims were found to be valid, among other variables.
More than 418,600 people had filed claims as of September 9, and fewer than 100 people opted out of the settlement, according to court documents.
Cook County Circuit Judge Anna M. Loftus granted the motion for final approval on September 28.
Claimants should expect to receive their payments within the next 90 days, pending the resolution of any appeals in the settlement’s favor.
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June 6, 2022 – $100M Google Photos Illinois Biometric Privacy Settlement Website Is Live
The proposed class action detailed on this page and several other lawsuits accusing Google of violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act have been settled for $100 million.
The official settlement website is live and can be found here:
https://www.googlebipasettlement.com/
The deal covers anyone who, at any time between May 1, 2015 and April 25, 2022, appeared in a photograph in Google Photos while they were an Illinois resident.
To file a claim, head to this page. To begin the process, select the appropriate option for whether you have a unique claim ID number and hit the “Begin Claim” button. Your claim ID number can be found near the top of the official settlement notice you received by mail or email.
The deadline by which to file a claim is September 24, 2022. If you do not file a claim, you will not receive payment from the settlement and will give up the right to sue Google over the allegations covered in the litigation.
The amount of money you might receive through the settlement depends on the total number of valid claims filed and the cost of administering the settlement. According to the official website, it is estimated that consumers who submit valid claims may receive between approximately $200 and $400; however, the actual amount of any payout could be less or more. Each class member will receive an equally proportionate share of the total settlement fund.
If your claim is approved, you should receive payment within 90 days of the settlement receiving final approval from the court. A final approval hearing is scheduled for September 28, 2022. Keep in mind, however, that even if the deal receives final approval, there may still be appeals to resolve before payments can be distributed.
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A proposed class action lawsuit filed in Illinois alleges Google violated the state’s biometric privacy law by actively collecting, storing and using without authorization the facial templates of “millions of unwitting individuals” who appear in pictures uploaded to Google Photos.
Under the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act (BIPA), the 15-page complaint says, private entities such as Google cannot obtain and/or possess an individual’s unique biometric information—such as fingerprints, voiceprints or facial scans—without adhering to clear guidelines governing how such data is to be handled.
“Each and every” photo scanned, lawsuit says
According to the lawsuit, the cloud-based Google Photos app comes pre-installed on all Android devices and is set by default to automatically upload every photo taken by a device user. The case claims, however, that Android users are unaware that Google scans “each and every photo” uploaded to Google Photos to extract the facial geometries of the individuals in the pictures, including data relating to the unique points and contours of each face.
With this information, Google, the complaint continues, creates and stores a template of each face in a database. Google Photos utilizes the facial templates to organize and group together photos based on the particular individuals who appear in each picture, according to the suit. This technology works, the case says, by cross-referencing facial templates that already appear in Google’s database with newly uploaded photos.
The case alleges the unique facial templates collected and stored by Google photos are used not only to “identify individuals by name, but also to recognize their gender, age, and location.”
Illinois’ biometric privacy law
Enacted by the state in 2008, the Illinois BIPA makes it unlawful for a company to “collect, capture, purchase, receive through trade or otherwise obtain” an individual’s biometric information – such as a face print – without first making certain disclosures. A company dealing in consumers’ biometric identifiers must first:
As the case tells it, Google, “in direct violation” of the Illinois BIPA, never satisfied any of the above-listed requirements before capturing, storing and using state residents’ facial templates derived from Google Photos.
Who does this case look to cover?
The lawsuit aims to cover a class of individuals who had their biometric identifiers, namely scans of their facial geometry, collected, captured, received or otherwise obtained by Google from photos uploaded to Google Photos in Illinois.
How do I join this lawsuit?
It’s important to know that, in general, you do not have to do anything to “join” a class action lawsuit. If you fit within the definition of the group of people the suit looks to cover – and this definition is given the OK by a judge, you are essentially “included” in the lawsuit.
In most cases, it can take months or years for a lawsuit to move from just-filed to either a settlement or dismissal. In the event that a case is settled, covered individuals should be notified with instructions on how to file a claim or object or opt out of the deal.
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What if I don’t live in Illinois?
Because the Illinois BIPA is relatively new as far as consumer privacy laws go, the statute covers only individuals who live in the state. However, it’s entirely possible that the recent wave of litigation, centered on alleged violations of the Illinois BIPA, may eventually signal to other states that more has to be done to protect citizens from having their sensitive identifying information captured, stored and shared by companies without their say-so. The trend is still relatively new, but it’s not too far of a stretch to envision more and more states enacting similar laws in the coming years.
The complaint can be read below.
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A note on class action complaints:
Bear in mind that the information in this blog post summarizes the allegations put forth in the following legal complaint. At the time of this writing, nothing has been proven in court. Anyone can file a lawsuit, with or without the representation of an attorney, for any reason, and ClassAction.org takes no position on the merits of the suit. Class action complaints are a matter of public record, and our objective on this website is merely to share the information in these legal documents in an easily digestible way.
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