This week, TikTok users across the country who created videos on the app before September 30, 2021, began receiving payments between $27.84 and $167.04 following a $92 million class-action data privacy settlement with the social media platform.
The largest checks went to short- and long-term residents of Illinois, where TikTok was sued for violating the state's strict biometric data laws by collecting and implementing facial recognition data into its algorithms without user consent.
On the surface, facial recognition features on social media seem harmless, if not beneficial to the user experience — but experts say there are underlying consequences.
Matthew Kugler, a privacy law professor at Northwestern University told CNBC Make It in May that such businesses hold the potential to eliminate our anonymity.
In 2019, a study Kugler authored found that 70% of its participants were uncomfortable with companies using facial recognition data to track individual's locations and serve target ads.