Google Photos Illinois Biometric $100 Million Settlement: Payout Status

Who qualifies

• You appeared in a photograph stored in Google Photos while you were a resident of Illinois.
• This happened at any time between May 1, 2015 and April 25, 2022 — the period Google's Face Grouping feature could create a face template of you.
• You filed a valid claim before the September 24, 2022 deadline. That window is closed and no new claims are accepted.
• Only Illinois residents qualified — the case was brought under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), so people in other states were not eligible.

Google Photos settlement payout status — what happens now

1. 1

   The claim window closed in September 2022

   The deadline to file was September 24, 2022. If you were an eligible Illinois resident and did not file, you are not entitled to a payment. There is no way to submit a new claim in 2026 — the settlement is fully closed and distributed.

2. 2

   The court approved the $100 million settlement on September 28, 2022

   Judge Anna Loftus of the Cook County Circuit Court granted final approval to the $100 million non-reversionary fund on September 28, 2022, in Rivera v. Google LLC. Fewer than 100 people opted out of the class.

3. 3

   Payments — about $95 each — went out starting July 2023

   After a claims-verification process, the court ordered distribution on June 2, 2023, and payments began on or before July 7, 2023. Each valid claimant received approximately $95, paid by check or electronic payment based on the option chosen on the claim form.

4. 4

   Why the payout was lower than early estimates

   Class counsel initially projected $200–$400 per person, but the final amount landed near $95 because 687,484 people filed valid claims — far more than the roughly 420,000 originally projected. When a fixed fund is split among more claimants, each share is smaller.

5. 5

   Don't confuse this with the Texas Google biometric settlement

   In 2025, Google agreed to a much larger ~$1.375 billion biometric settlement with the State of Texas. That was a state attorney-general enforcement action under Texas law — the money goes to the state, not to individual claimants, and Texas residents do not file to receive a personal check. This Illinois Google Photos case ($100 million) is a separate consumer class action that already paid individuals about $95 each.

6. 6

   Biometric privacy keeps paying out — ClaimBee tracks it for you

   Illinois BIPA settlements over facial recognition, fingerprints, and voiceprints have paid some of the largest per-person amounts of any consumer class action. ClaimBee scans 2,000+ cases, matches them to your profile, and tracks every deadline so you never miss the next one.

Frequently asked questions