SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge in San Francisco has approved a $650 million settlement of a privacy lawsuit against Facebook for allegedly using photo face-tagging without the permission of its users. U.S. District Judge James Donato approved the deal Friday in a class-action lawsuit that claimed the California-based social media giant violated an Illinois biometric privacy law. Nearly 1.6 million Illinois residents will receive money. The judge called it one of the largest settlements ever for a privacy violation. Facebook says the settlement is in the best interest of its community and shareholders.
![items.[0].image.alt](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b17929a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5760x3240+0+300/resize/1280x720!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc7%2F42%2F3a0daab44749bea788d36b6535a7%2Fap21050066757942.jpg)
AP
FILE - This March 29, 2018, file photo shows the Facebook logo on screens at the Nasdaq MarketSite, in New York's Times Square. A federal judge on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021 approved a $650 million settlement of a privacy lawsuit against Facebook for allegedly using photo face-tagging and other biometric data without permission of its users. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
Posted at 3:02 PM, Feb 27, 2021
and last updated 2021-02-27 15:11:27-05
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
