Facebook Biometric Privacy Deal Nets Attorneys $97.5 Million

Plaintiffs’ attorneys who litigated Facebook’s $650 million privacy settlement over biometric data are entitled to $97.5 million in fees, according to Ninth Circuit judges who upheld approval of the awards on Thursday.

The class action settlement, which was approved in February 2021, stemmed from allegations that the social media giant collected and stored digital scans of users’ faces in violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.

Attorneys were paid 15% of the $650 million settlement. But, although class members Dawn Frankfother and Cathy Flanagan objected to the fee amount, Judge Michael Daly Hawkins of the U.S. Court of Appeals ...