Snapchat, the photo-sharing app used by many students at Kaneland High School, is currently getting sued after violating Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The app has agreed to pay $35 million to Illinois residents who have used Snapchat’s lenses feature from 2015 to now.

Established in 2008, Illinois’ BIPA states that private companies cannot collect biometric data unless given written consent from the individual.

According to the lawsuit, Snapchat’s lenses feature has been scanning users’ facial features (biometric data) without individual users’ knowledge or consent. Kaneland High School students are among many whose data has been collected by Snapchat.

Sophomore Samantha Kerry, who has used these lenses in the past, said, “I think it’s invasive, but at the same time everything is.”

Just over a year ago, Facebook faced a similar lawsuit when the app violated BIPA. Facebook agreed to pay $650 million to users who created and stored a face template any time after 2011. Even more recently, TikTok is faced with a $92 million lawsuit for also violating BIPA. With many social media apps these days taking personal information from their users, Kaneland students seem to not be too concerned about Snapchat.

“Honestly at this point, it’s kind of like a given with all social media,” sophomore Kenneth Guo said. “They are just going to take your information anyways.”

While students may not be worried about their information being taken by Snapchat, special education teacher Francis Zaragoza is concerned about the use of Snapchat in school.

“I think there is a right place to use something like that,” Zaragoza said. “I don’t see a need for it to be used in school.”

Any Illinois resident who has used Snapchat lenses or filters from Nov. 17, 2015, to now has an opportunity to file a claim on snapillinoisbipasettlement.com. People who submit a valid claim will be issued some amount of money, however, it is unclear what that amount is right now. The deadline for submitting claims is Nov. 5, 2022.

“If someone shows me how to do it, I will,” Kerry said about the claim.

More information will be provided to Snapchat users after the final court hearing scheduled for Nov. 17, 2022.