TikTok Lawsuit In Illinois Results In $1.1 Million Settlement

ILLINOIS — A class action lawsuit filed in Illinois has resulted in TikTok agreeing to pay certain users and their parents more than $1 million, according to reports.

The lawsuit claimed the social media app and affiliated companies violated federal and state law by tracking, collecting and disclosing the personal information and viewing data of children under 13 without parental consent, according to a website about the litigation. TikTok reached a settlement with the plaintiff and the app will pay $1.1 million to qualifying U.S. residents who filed a claim, the website said.

The 2019 lawsuit in the Northern District of Illinois was filed by two parents of young teens, according to NBC 5 Chicago, which reported the plaintiffs claimed children were stalked by adults online as a result of TikTok’s practices. Attorneys for the lawsuit called the outcome “a landmark settlement for privacy cases,” NBC 5 reported.

The claim submission deadline was last year and payments were set to be disbursed in September after an appeal on the case was dismissed in August, according to the website.

This lawsuit is different from a separate $92 million settlement TikTok is expected to pay as a result of allegations the app broke the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act laws.

Facebook users in Illinois earlier this year received anywhere from $200 to $400 in settlement money after a judge determined that the social media platform violated privacy laws. In August, a judge ordered that Snapchat’s parent company dole out $35 million in funds for privacy law violations.