Payments in Illinois Google lawsuit expected within 90 days

FILE – In this Sept. 24, 2019, file photo a sign is shown on a Google building at their campus in Mountain View, Calif. One of the European Union’s highest courts has largely upheld a huge fine issued to Google by the bloc’s antitrust enforcers in 2018 over its Android mobile operating system. The European Court of Justice’s General Court on Wednesday, Sept. 14 2022, mostly confirmed a European Commission decision to slap Google with a fine of more than 4 billion euros for stifling competition through the dominance of Android(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

by: Jim Hagerty

Posted: Oct 5, 2022 / 11:03 AM CDT

Updated: Oct 5, 2022 / 11:10 AM CDT

(WTVO) — A federal judge has approved terms of a settlement in a class-action lawsuit between Illinois residents and tech giant Google.

That means more than 400,000 people in Illinois will get a share of a $100 million settlement from Google, which was accused in the complaint of violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.

Those who filed a claim as part of suit against Google are expected to receive around $150 each. Payments are expected within 90 days.

The complaint accused Google of using a face regrouping tool in the Google Photos app to sort photographs without user consent.

Google is the fourth company to be dragged into court in similar complaints. Facebook, TikTok and Walmart all have been sued in Illinois for violating BIPA.

“In response to all of this, Facebook chose to get out of the business of taking faceprints of photos that were being uploaded into their system,” Adam Schwartz, senior lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told The Center Square. “I think a lot of businesses in Illinois are becoming aware of it and they will stop collecting biometrics from people without their permission.”

Class-action members who appeared in a photo in the Google Photos app between May 1, 2015, and April 25, 2022, were eligible for a cut of the settlement.