FOX 32 Chicago Interviews Daliah Saper About Facebook’s Class Action Settlement

FOX 32 Chicago interviewed social media attorney Daliah Saper on November 23rd to discuss that day’s deadline for Illinois Facebook users to join a class action lawsuit against the social media platform. By that point, nearly 1.5 million users had already submitted a claim, and Daliah outlined the simple process for other potential class members to join. She explained that to be eligible, users had to have lived in Illinois for at least 6 months and had their facial template stored by Facebook after June 7, 2011 – criteria met by many Illinois residents.

Facebook’s $650 million settlement stems from the platform’s violation of the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act by failing to obtain users’ consent to store their facial data. Daliah explained that privacy laws like this one, which require “affirmative consent” from consumers as opposed to terms buried in unreadable privacy policies, are becoming increasingly prevalent. Companies of all sizes are facing heightened scrutiny, and Daliah pointed out that tech innovation is trending towards utilizing biometric data for security purposes. Therefore, it’s especially crucial for companies to obtain consent and protect consumer data. Daliah predicts that these issues and resulting legal implications will continue to make headlines.