YouTube To Hand $6,022,500 To Users in Class Action Settlement Over Allegedly Illegal Biometric Data Collection and Storage

YouTube is settling a lawsuit alleging the media titan collected and stored the personal data of its users without consent and proper notice.

According to the settlement administrator’s updated portal, YouTube will hand out $6.02 million to settle the lawsuit that was filed in August of 2022.

The lawsuit accused the platform of violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act with its Face Blur feature.

The lawsuit also claimed the Face Blur feature employed facial recognition technology. Illinois law prohibits the unauthorized collection and storage of biometric data.

The class representative in the lawsuit could receive up to $5,000 if the court approves. The rest of the settlement class members will receive much less, according to the settlement administrator portal.

“Payments will likely be approximately $200 per Settlement Class Member who timely submits a valid Claim Form. The exact amount of payment per claim will depend on how many Settlement Class Members file valid claims and the amount of fees, expenses, and the Class Representative award approved by the Court to be deducted from the Settlement Fund.”

To receive the payment, class members must file a claim form on or before November 30th. A final approval hearing of the settlement will be held on December 30th.

Despite agreeing to settle, the online video-sharing platform denies all the allegations made in the lawsuit and insists that its Face Blur feature is meant to protect the privacy of people depicted in YouTube videos.

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