Home » Business News » People in Illinois could receive payout from Google over illegal data gathering

People in Illinois could receive payout from Google over illegal data gathering

By Nithya Bose in Business News, posted June 2, 2022

Illinoisans could soon receive payment in a class-action lawsuit settlement that accused Google of violating state law.

The company was charged with breaking an Illinois privacy law by failing to adhere to the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.

The state claims Google gathered and stored biometric data of individuals who, while living in Illinois, appeared in an image on Google Photos, a photo-sharing and storing service, without adequate notice or consent.

Google continues to deny any wrongdoing, but has agreed a settlement thought to be around $100 million.

Users could be eligible for a payout if they had appeared in an image in Google Photos when being an Illinois resident at any point between May 1, 2015, and April 25, 2022.

After court fees, charges, and expenses are deducted, the settlement amount is estimated to be worth over $100 million.

After a settlement deal was struck earlier in 2021, eligible people can now make claims.

Those eligible have until September 24 to make a claim, and all claims must be received by this date in order to be paid.

People who want to protest to or withdraw from the settlement have until August 10 to do so. On September 28, there will be a final approval hearing.

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It is unclear how much money each eligible person will receive.

Google has not admitted any wrongdoing in the settlement agreement and refutes all of the lawsuit's accusations.

Source: WAND TV

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