Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB)-owned Instagram has agreed to pay millions of users after illegally collecting biometrics data on its social media platform.
Some 4mln users will be issued payments totalling US$16.5mln in Illinois over the company’s alleged violation of US state laws.
Though the settlement is yet to be fully approved by DuPage County Circuit court, Judge Angelo Kappas has already granted a preliminary go-ahead.
Instagram had claimed it was using basic templates, owned by parent Meta, to find content users appeared in and to suggest tags on its site, alongside Facebook.
However, the class-action lawsuit filed in Illinois alleged that Instagram had instead been using biometrics, which are used to identify people through biological measurements.
Having failed to ask for consent, plaintiffs argued that Instagram was breaking state law, which rival firms Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP) have also been accused of violating.
Alphabet, which owns Google, settled a lawsuit in 2022 over the potential use of biometrics on its Photos app, while Snapchat’s owner also faced a similar charge.
People who have used Instagram while in Illinois since August 2015 could be eligible for compensation under the settlement, with applications closing in late September.
Facebook, also owned by Meta, previously settled an Illinois-based case in May last year, paying some users up to US$400 for the biometrics law breaches.