Facebook To Pay $550 Million To Settle Facial Recognition Suit (nbcnews.com) 29
Facebook has agreed to pay $550 million to settle a class-action lawsuit (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source) over its use of facial recognition technology in Illinois, "giving privacy groups a major victory that again raised questions about the social network's data-mining practices," reports The New York Times. From the report: The case stemmed from Facebook's photo-labeling service, Tag Suggestions, which uses face-matching software to suggest the names of people in users' photos. The suit said the Silicon Valley company violated an Illinois biometric privacy law by harvesting facial data for Tag Suggestions from the photos of millions of users in the state without their permission and without telling them how long the data would be kept. Facebook has said the allegations have no merit.
Under the agreement, Facebook will pay $550 million to eligible Illinois users and for the plaintiffs' legal fees.
The sum dwarfs the $380.5 million that the Equifax credit reporting agency agreed this month to pay to settle a class-action case over a 2017 consumer data breach. Facebook disclosed the settlement as part of its quarterly financial results, in which it took a charge on the case. The sum amounted to a rounding error for Facebook, which reported that revenue rose 25 percent to $21 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with a year earlier, while profit increased 7 percent to $7.3 billion.
The sum dwarfs the $380.5 million that the Equifax credit reporting agency agreed this month to pay to settle a class-action case over a 2017 consumer data breach. Facebook disclosed the settlement as part of its quarterly financial results, in which it took a charge on the case. The sum amounted to a rounding error for Facebook, which reported that revenue rose 25 percent to $21 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with a year earlier, while profit increased 7 percent to $7.3 billion.
Re:Only 550MM (Score:5, Interesting)
But still, Illinois should be congratulated for passing a good law.
Re:Only 550MM (Score:4, Interesting)
Hope the other 49 states get the same amount.... 49 x $550 million = $26.95 billion
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Because Canada is not one of our states yet.
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And not anytime soon, because we're insufficiently xenophobic (though some contrary pockets are indeed growing lately). It would tilt that red/blue balance in American almost exactly like adding a second California at the House level, and worse still at the Senate level.
Our last demands as an independent nation would be:
* America to abandon their electoral college system in favour of straight-up STV (single transferable vote) presidential election system;
* two sen
$550 million: It's a dwarf sum (Score:4, Funny)
The sum dwarfs the $380.5 million
550/380.5 = 1.524310
White dwarfs, plausibly a retired term in the near future, are generally from stars 1/8th the size of our Sol... not an enormous sun.
1.5 x 1.0... dwarfism in the regard that each and every 7 footer predicates the likelihood of several 4'9"ers is like a basketball center and my grandma standing side by side.
1/8th sized replica is a 200 lb man and his 25# mini-me.
Re: $550 million: It's a dwarf sum (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm curious why you think the 1/8 ratio has application outside of astronomy.
I can't believe they settled (Score:2)
Going to court then appealing seems like the only option when anything more than half a billion is on the line.
Maybe even argue that the statute is invalid through the commerce clause, the swiss army knife of laws.
Re: I can't believe they settled (Score:5, Insightful)
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One interesting email to one side of US politics?
The support for one side of US politics?
Just universe? (Score:1, Interesting)
Nothing will change until prison time is on the table for Facebook executives, for which they'll undoubtedly have enough lobbying cash to stop Congress from considering any such legislation.
Ah well, there's always hell.
Re:Just universe? (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:Just universe? (Score:4, Insightful)
"The sum amounted to a rounding error for Facebook..." Nothing will change until prison time is on the table for Facebook executives...
I'd LOVE to see their execs, and especially Zuck, spend time in prison - and not in a 'Club Fed' facility. Realistically though, I'd settle for truly serious fines - something on the order of an entire quarter's worth of gross revenue. THAT would piss off the shareholders enough that c-level heads would roll - and taxpayers wouldn't have to pay for some fat cat's room and board. Two or three enforced judgments like that would make the corps a lot more cautious. It ain't gonna happen because those fuckers own the government, but it's nice to dream...
Schools still "require" Facebook (Score:5, Informative)
it's still, pretty much, the only option for keeping in touch with certain groups.
At local schools the de facto standard for parents is to create a Facebook group, and if you are not part of it you won't receive any information from other parents. One would think that there is a market for GDPR compliant group communication that the "Facebook is so easy"-people could also wrap their heads around.
Sorry about the rant. I'm just frustrated about this topic.
* Clueless as in "I'm not updating my status that often, so Facebook has nothing on me" and/or "what could they possible use information about me for?"
Utterly meaningless... (Score:2)
No victory (Score:2)
..., giving privacy groups a major victory ...
I don't see any victory here. There would have been a victory if facebook was convicted and punished by a court of law, not if there is a settlement.
fair (Score:1)