Illinois Facebook users can apply for up to $400 settlement as part of privacy lawsuit

Facebook users in Illinois have two months to file a claim for up to $400 as part of a lawsuit settlement involving the social media giant.

Earlier this year, Facebook agreed to pay out $650 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that accused the company of violating an Illinois privacy law with a feature that suggested to users other people to tag in their photos.

A federal judge in California gave preliminary approval to the settlement last month, and Facebook replaced the tag suggestion tool with a broader facial recognition setting in 2019.

To receive a settlement — likely between $200 and $400 — Illinois residents must file a claim at FacebookBIPAClassAction.com. The deadline to file a claim is Nov. 23, according to the law firm that secured the settlement.

To qualify, claimants must have lived in Illinois for at least six months. The judge in the case said that the settlement applies to “Facebook users located in Illinois for whom Facebook created and stored a face template after June 7, 2011.”

A hearing for final approval on the settlement is scheduled for Jan. 1, 2021.