
I was searching my e-mail junk folder this morning and there was a piece of mail with the title of this topic on it. Normally I trust the Google e-mail filters and just delete what they cite as junk. But this was about Facebook. I couldn't let this one pass without at least looking at what the scam is all about.
Turns out it was not a scam. You must know about the "tag" feature that was available to Facebook users. You could box off a person's face and tag them in one of your posted photographs. By magic everybody and their brother who knew this tagged person would be notified about what you did. Many, and I do mean many, years ago somebody tagged me in a photo. When I went to look at it, I was nowhere to be found. They obviously misidentified me. I never heard of tagging prior to that time and did a little research to discover what it's all about. The long and the short of it is that Facebook was using facial recognition software to identify people. What they did with that particular information was anybody's guess, but it clearly was an invasion of privacy. Well, I have mixed feelings today about the whole technology, but back then Facebook was using me without my permission and that pissed me off. So, I went to the settings and shut it down as well as I could. Never heard from the "tag" team again and pretty much forgot about the whole idea. Actually, I pretty much forgot about all of Facebook.
So, anyway, this e-mail was from a law firm to advise me that I might be party to a class action law suit settlement. The only requirement was that I lived in Illinois for 180 days anytime after 2011 and had a Facebook account during that time. Apparently Illinois had and has some pretty hefty laws regarding the use of facial (or any biometric) recognition and Facebook violated them. As is usual, Facebook claimed they broke no laws, but they will hand out $650 million just because they are nice guys. So, anybody who makes a claim will receive cash from Facebook to the tune of $200-$600 depending on how many people file a claim. The claim is due by November of this year and the cash will be distributed early January of next year.
Did I make a claim? LOL Not only did I submit one but I passed the info onto my wife who also has been tagged. My claim was immediately rejected after I told them my current address, but they gave me a chance to explain. So, I did attest to the fact that I meet all the qualifications, i.e., was a resident of Illinois for the said amount of time during the specified period of time. They said, ok. Thank you very much. And, they sent a verification that I made the claim.
Should a check from Facebook actually be forthcoming, it will be the classic irony. In fact I may not bother to cash it. I will frame it and hang it above my computer so that I can brighten up any day I need a little boost.