Facebook to pay $550 million to settle facial recognition lawsuit

The lawsuit began in 2015, when Illinois users accused Facebook of violating the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act in collecting biometric data.

The lawsuit began in 2015, when Illinois users accused Facebook of violating the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act. (Pixabay)

Facebook Inc said on Wednesday it reached a $550 million (418 million pounds) settlement in principle related to a lawsuit that claimed it illegally collected and stored biometric data for millions of users without their consent.

The lawsuit began in 2015, when Illinois users accused Facebook of violating the state's Biometric Information Privacy Act in collecting biometric data.

Facebook allegedly accomplished this through its "Tag Suggestions" feature, which allowed users to recognise their Facebook friends from previously uploaded photos.

In a statement, law firms Edelson, Robbins Geller and Labaton Sucharow said the plaintiffs will ask the district court to give preliminary approval for the settlement.