Facebook has allegedly been accessing user's data in violation of Illinois law. Now they could end up paying for it.

The Chicago Tribune reports that a federal lawsuit filed in 2015 states that the site violated Illinois' strict biometrics law through its use of face scans (for instance, Facebook recognizing someone in a photo and automatically tagging them).

Basically, Facebook is in trouble because the Illinois law states that companies must explicitly ask permission from consumers before collecting biometric information.

Though Facebook admits to potentially violating the law, their legal counsel is saying that the information collected did not harm anyone.

The lawsuit has been moved to federal court in San Francisco and has been granted class-action status by a judge as of this past Monday. The case will most likely go to trial in July if mediation does not occur before then. If the court sides with Facebook users, that could potentially mean IL Facebook members will each get a significant payout.

 

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