ARLINGTON - Facebook Inc. agreed to pay US$550 million to resolve claims it collected user biometric data without consent in one of the largest consumer privacy settlements in US history.
"We decided to pursue a settlement as it was in the best interest of our community and our shareholders to move past this matter," Facebook said. Consumer privacy cases in US courts occasionally have succeeded in making Internet companies change their policies, but have rarely triggered payouts of more than US$10 million. The lawsuit over photo scanning was brought under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act of 2008, the toughest laws of its kind in the US.
Courts have struggled over what qualifies as an injury to pursue a privacy case in lawsuits accusing Facebook, Google and other Internet companies of siphoning users' personal information from emails and monitoring their web browsing habits. Suits over selling the data to advertisers have often failed.
The settlement will push technology companies to pay closer attention to users' concerns over biometric technology, said Ms Pam Dixon, executive director of nonprofit advocacy group World Privacy Forum.
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