Jessy Edwards  |  March 3, 2021

Category: Legal News

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

TikTok settlement has been reached for users' privacy.

UPDATE:

  • March 2,2021 a federal judge refused to approve the proposed multimillion-dollar agreement in response to objections over the plan to notify Class Members and the total settlement fund itself.

Video-sharing app TikTok has agreed to pay $92 million to settle a class action lawsuit claiming it illegally collected private and personally identifiable data from 92 million United States users, some as young as six years old, and sold the data to advertisers.

In a motion for approval of the settlement, filed in the Northern District of Illinois Thursday, lawyers for the plaintiffs say it’s one of the largest privacy-related settlements the country has ever seen. 

If approved, it will end 21 proposed class action lawsuits — mostly on behalf of minors — alleging TikTok doesn’t tell users its facial recognition technology collects and stores their biometric information, as required by Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act. Under the act, TikTok needed written permission from users, the motion states.

The lawsuit also claimed TikTok and its parent company ByteDance broke federal laws, including privacy and computer fraud and abuse statutes. TikTok has denied any privacy violations. 

The legal battle has raged for more than a year and included an “expert-led” investigation of TikTok’s source code, which revealed the video-sharing giant went to great lengths to hide its data collection and sharing practices, the class action lawsuit alleged.

“Plaintiffs’ investigation has revealed that [TikTok did so] by obfuscating the source code that would reveal their misconduct,” the class action lawsuit stated.

As millions of users in the U.S. switched on the app to make and watch videos, TikTok was allegedly sending their information to servers in China, or in other countries where China-based employees could access the data. TikTok also shared information about users, without their consent, with Facebook, Google and other companies, the class action lawsuit alleges.

Under the proposed terms of the settlement, TikTok will no longer record a user’s biometric information, including facial characteristics, or track a user’s location using GPS data. 

TikTok also committed to stop sending U.S. users data overseas and the app said it would no longer collect data on draft videos before the content is published — a practice the lawsuit also brought up in its investigation, NPR reported.

It will require new training on compliance with data privacy laws and company procedures for all of its incoming employees and contractors, with annual training thereafter. TikTok will also hire a third party to review the compliance training for the next three years, the motion stated.

Last year, former U.S. President Donald Trump clamped down on TikTok over its ties to China, with ByteDance being based in Beijing. The Biden administration has pulled back from that crackdown on TikTok, instead launching a broader review of Americans’ use of Chinese technology, NPR reported.

Under the agreement, two settlement classes are proposed: a nationwide Class of people who used either TikTok or its Musical.ly predecessor and an Illinois subclass. The Illinois subclass is estimated to be about 1.4 million people and the nationwide Class has about 89 million members.

The plaintiffs said they will not seek an attorney fee award of more than 33 percent of the settlement fund and will seek service awards of up to $2,500 for each class representative; however, the terms of the $92 million settlement hit a roadblock as a federal judge refused to grant approval after a preliminary hearing on the matter. 

U.S. District Judge John Lee has reportedly refused to approve the proposed $92 million settlement agreement. At a hearing held on Tuesday, Judge Lee posed several questions about the predicted claims rate and proposed notice plan.

Specifically, the judge asked why the TikTok app wouldn’t be used to contact Class Members directly to improve the claims rate. Indeed, noted the judge, the claims rate predicted in court documents amounted to less than 2 percent.

In addition, the judge said he needed more information about how the parties concluded that the settlement would total $92 million after objectors pointed out that Facebook recently paid $650 million to settle similar claims over the collection of biometric information.

While both TikTok and the plaintiffs’ lawyers say the deal is solid, Judge Lee scheduled a follow-up hearing for April 6.

Meanwhile, data privacy law is becoming an area of growing interest for the American public with the rise of tech-giants like TikTok, Facebook and Google, and consumers’ being increasingly informed about their online rights. Click here for more information about data privacy laws, and how to take action.

Top Class Actions will continue to update this TikTok class action settlement as it develops. Click on the “Follow Article” button at the top of this page to get the latest updates on the settlement by using your free Top Class Actions account.

Do you use TikTok? Do you feel like your data is safe on the app? Let us know in the comments below. 

The plaintiffs are represented by Carlson Lynch LLP, Fegan Scott LLC, Bird Marella Boxer Wolpert Nessim Drooks Lincenberg & Rhow PC, Freed Kanner London & Millen LLC, Susman Godfrey LLP, Bottini & Bottini Inc., Hausfeld LLP, Burns Charest LLP and Clifford Law Offices PC.

TikTok is represented by Anthony J. Weibell of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC.

The TikTok Privacy Class Action Lawsuit is In re: TikTok Inc. Consumer Privacy Litigation, Case No. 1:20-cv-04699, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

We tell you about cash you can claim EVERY WEEK! Sign up for our free newsletter.

714 thoughts onTikTok to Pay $92M in Nationwide Settlement of Private User Data Collection

  1. D Butterfield says:

    Tiktok Shop is withholding funds when they suspend functions or account is banned. The withholding money from creators on Tiktokshop. The reserve money from sellers instead of paying it out completely to sellers, they allow sellers to remove products from videos and not pay creators videos. I have been harmed by Tiktok alot. Yes, I joining in.

  2. william ashley says:

    never received information

    1. Tim says:

      Please add me

  3. Kim Taylor says:

    Please add me I did jot receive notice

  4. Kim Taylor says:

    Please add me

  5. Geraldine Magee says:

    Please add me I never recived anything from claim submitted

1 67 68 69

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. By submitting your comment and contact information, you agree to receive marketing emails from Top Class Actions regarding this and/or similar lawsuits or settlements, and/or to be contacted by an attorney or law firm to discuss the details of your potential case at no charge to you if you qualify. Required fields are marked *

Please note: Top Class Actions is not a settlement administrator or law firm. Top Class Actions is a legal news source that reports on class action lawsuits, class action settlements, drug injury lawsuits and product liability lawsuits. Top Class Actions does not process claims and we cannot advise you on the status of any class action settlement claim. You must contact the settlement administrator or your attorney for any updates regarding your claim status, claim form or questions about when payments are expected to be mailed out.