Some IL Facebook Users To Get Final, Albeit Tiny, Settlement Payment

ILLINOIS — Illinois Facebook users who have grown accustomed to receiving checks from the social media platform as part of a biometric privacy settlement will again see money deposited in their accounts – but it won’t be much.

Residents who are part of the popular social media platform had previously received settlement payments of as much as almost $400 as part of a $650 million settlement after the company agreed to pay users after prosecutors alleged the company had violated privacy laws by using facial recognition software improperly.

Now, as part of the final installment of the settlement payments, about 7 million Illinois residents will receive a “third and final” payment of $7.20 sometime in early December as part of the deal, the company recently announced.

Facebook users previously received a check or electronic payment of almost $31 earlier this year as part of the settlement, which came after the class-action suit alleged that the company had violated laws – including the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, which was passed in 2008. The law is considered the strictest of its kind in the country and requires companies to receive permission from users and employees before using technology to identify people via facial recognition or fingerprint technology.

In order to receive the $397 check, however, Facebook users would have had to file a claim against the company by a certain date, which, according to the settlement website, was in 2020.

After the initial payments went out, the law firm that handled the class action suit said that more than 110,000 people never cashed the initial check, which left more than $43 million remaining in the settlement bank.

The payments of $30.61 and now the final payment of $7.30 are expected to use the remaining settlement funds. Payments will be sent out either in an electronic deposit or by a mailed check that should arrive in early December.