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Facebook wins preliminary approval to settle facial recognition lawsuit

  • Facebook users in Illinois accused the company of violating the US state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act
  • The social networking giant had raised its settlement offer in July by US$100 million to US$650 million

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Facebook has recently faced criticism from lawmakers and regulators over its privacy practices. Photo: Reuters

Facebook won preliminary approval late on Wednesday from a federal court for settlement of a lawsuit that said it illegally collected and stored biometric data of millions of users without their consent.

The social networking giant had raised its settlement offer in July by US$100 million to US$650 million in relation to the lawsuit, in which users in Illinois accused the company of violating the US state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act.

The revised settlement agreement resolved the court’s concerns, leading to the preliminary approval of the class action settlement, Judge James Donato wrote in an order filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

“Preliminary approval of the amended stipulation of class action settlement, Dkt No 468, is granted, and a final approval hearing is set for January 7, 2021,” the judge said in the eight-page order.

Facebook allegedly violated the state’s law through its “Tag Suggestions” feature, which allowed users to recognise their Facebook friends from previously uploaded photos, according to the lawsuit, which began in 2015.
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