Labaton Sucharow Obtains Final Approval of $650 Million Settlement in Facebook BIPA Class Action

On February 26, 2021, Labaton Sucharow obtained final approval of a $650 million settlement in In re Facebook Biometric Information Privacy Litigation. 

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California approved the groundbreaking settlement—the largest cash privacy class action settlement in history—resolving claims that Facebook used facial recognition technology to collect and store users’ biometric data without first obtaining informed written consent, as required by the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”).

"By any measure, the $650 million settlement in this biometric privacy class action is a landmark result," said the final approval order. "Overall, the settlement is a major win for consumers in the hotly contested area of digital privacy."

The settlement was reached following five years of tireless litigation before the Honorable Judge James Donato, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. 

The Labaton Sucharow team was led by Partner Michael P. Canty and included Partner Corban S. Rhodes, Of Counsel Ross Kamhi, and Associate Jeffrey R. McEachern.

The case is In re Facebook Biometric Information Privacy Litig., No. 15-cv-03747 (N.D. Cal.).