Have You Filed? Illinois’ Google Lawsuit Deadline Is Coming Up

There's been quite a bit of lawsuit activity involving big tech companies and their dealings in Illinois over the last couple of years, mainly having to do with these companies ignoring the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).

Illinois was one of the first states to address how different businesses go about gathering information on customers or users, in particular their collection of biometric data.

Bottom line: Facebook, SnapChat, and Google are paying out some money because they violated Illinois' BIPA. If you're eligible for the Google payout, you'd better get moving before it's too late.

What Kind Of Violations Got These Companies In Trouble?

The gathering of biometric data that prompted the class-action lawsuits against these tech companies involves photos of you, according to the lawsuit's settlement webpage (GoogleBIPASettlement.com):

The lawsuit alleges that Google violated Illinois law by collecting and storing biometric data of individuals who, while residing in Illinois, appeared in a photograph in the photograph sharing and storage service known as Google Photos (“Google Photos”), without proper notice and consent.

I'd be lying if I said that some photos of me showing up on Google Photos would make me feel as if I'd been violated...but that doesn't mean that I won't take the money when the settlement is payed out.

Let's Get To What You Really Want To Know--How Much Do You Get, And How Do You Get It

How do you know if you're eligible for payment? The settlement webpage says that you're a class member in the settlement if "at any time between May 1, 2015 and April 25, 2022, you appeared in a photograph in Google Photos while you were an Illinois resident."

How do you get the money? The only way for you to get a share of the settlement funds is to fill out and submit a claim form (Click here to be taken to the form). Don't wait around, because the deadline for submission is September 24th.

And, the big question...how much do you get?

That's a little tougher to answer. The settlement fund is $100 million, and if you provide a valid claim, the settlement website says that you'll get a pro rata portion of the $100 million fund:

The actual cash amount that an individual will receive will depend on the number of valid claims and deductions for Court-approved notice and settlement administration expenses, attorneys’ fees, litigation costs and expenses, and service payments to the Class Representatives.