A class action lawsuit was filed by the people of Illinois against the company. The act requires private companies to have written policies for how long the data will be kept and how it will be destroyed. Data on facial geometry is collected by the app in order to determine similarities and differences between people. The problem is that users weren't told that they were being collected. In their filing, the people alleged that.
“Google is actively collecting, storing, and using—without providing notice, obtaining informed written consent or publishing data retention policies—the biometrics of millions of unwitting individuals whose faces appear in photographs uploaded to Google Photos in Illinois. Specifically, Google has created, collected and stored, in conjunction with its cloud-based ‘Google Photos’ service, millions of ‘face templates’ (or ‘face models’)—highly detailed geometric maps of the face—from millions of Google Photos users.”
Illinois residents can only file a claim for their cut of the $100 million settlement if they appeared in a picture on the photo sharing app between May 1, 2015 and April 25, 2022. If you meet the requirements, you can mail in a claim using the form on the settlement's website before September 24, 2022. The final payouts will depend on the number of claims filed and the exact amount per person isn't clear yet.
Illinois has been involved in the data privacy revolution before. In 2015, a similar lawsuit was filed against Facebook, where it was claimed that the social media giant was collecting user data without their knowledge. Users who were compromised were able to file a claim.
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