Eligible Illinois residents are set to receive the largest shares in a $92 million class-action lawsuit settlement involving the social media network TikTok.
The settlement was approved by a federal judge this week, with Illinois residents who are part of the suit receiving five additional shares each under the payout. That's compared to individual shares for others users in the U.S.
According to a press release, the lawsuit was filed over claims that the video-sharing app violated both federal law and Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act, with the site allegedly collecting biometric data from users and then disclosing it to third-party companies without the consent of those affected.
“In this class action suit, we alleged that TikTok’s technological sophistication enabled them to collect billions of user attributes, ranging from eye color to people’s facial expressions and physical gestures and use that data without disclosure to the consumers," Elizabeth Fegan, co-lead counsel representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement.
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The settlement will create a $92 million fund to be distributed among class members.
According to lawyers, TikTok users who created videos prior to Sept. 30, 2021 were eligible to be part of the class-action suit.
Two separate classes of plaintiffs were created, with one comprised of nationwide users and a second class comprised solely of Illinois-based users.
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Deadlines for the lawsuit have already passed, according to lawyers, meaning those who are eligible had to file their claims by March 1, 2022.
According to the law firm that filed the suit, those individuals who filed to be part of the class-action suit will receive payments electronically, unless they opted for an alternative form of payment.
No official date for payments has yet been announced.
The reason Illinois residents were part of a separate class in the suit is because of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, which imposes strict limits on the way companies can use and share biometric information.
As a result of that law, Illinois residents who are part of the class-action suit will receive the same share as other United States residents, but will also receive five additional shares apiece, effectively increasing their payout.
The official number of participants in the class-action suit has not yet been announced, and therefore it is not known how big a settlement payout Illinois residents can expect.
