Class Action
In re Clearview AI
Re-checked against the docket 2026-08-23
In re Clearview AI, Inc., Consumer Privacy Litigation
Where it stands
Eleven actions were consolidated as MDL 2967 before Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman (N.D. Ill., No. 1:21-cv-00135). Because Clearview could not fund a cash settlement, the class took a 23% equity-like stake in the company, valued at roughly $51.75 million; final approval was entered March 20, 2025 over objections from 23 state attorneys general. On July 13, 2026 the Seventh Circuit VACATED that approval and remanded (No. 25-1673) over inadequate class-representative substitution. The mandate issued August 4, 2026. The settlement must be renegotiated and the case is reopened.
Key ruling
July 13, 2026 (7th Cir. No. 25-1673): final approval of the equity-based BIPA settlement vacated and remanded; mandate issued August 4, 2026.
Note on this record
Widely reported as a completed settlement. It is not. Approval was vacated on July 13, 2026 and the parties are back before the district court.The record
- Court
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Eastern Division)
- Case number
- 1:21-cv-00135
- Filed
- Filing date not established
- Defendants
- Clearview AI, Inc. · Hoan Ton-That · Richard Schwartz · Rocky Mountain Data Analytics LLC
- Plaintiffs
- Nationwide class of individuals whose facial images were scraped into Clearview's database between July 1, 2017 and the preliminary approval date, with Illinois, California, New York and Virginia subclasses
- Technology at issue
- Clearview AI facial recognition search engine built on approximately 50 billion images scraped from the public internet
- Relief sought
- BIPA statutory damages of $1,000 per negligent violation and $5,000 per reckless or intentional violation (740 ILCS 14/20), injunctive relief, and disgorgement. Because Clearview could not fund a conventional cash settlement, the class took an equity position instead.
- Settlement
- Vacated on appeal. The vacated deal was a 23% equity-like stake, estimated at approximately $51.75 million.
- Counsel of record
- Loevy & Loevy
Claims pleaded
Sources (4)
- In Re: Clearview AI, Inc., Consumer Privacy Litigation, No. 1:2021cv00135 - Document 631 (N.D. Ill. 2025)Justia · 2025-03-20
- $51.75M Settlement in Clearview AI Biometric Privacy Litigation Illustrates Creative Resolution for Startups Facing Parallel Litigation and Enforcement ActionTroutman Pepper Locke (Regulatory Oversight) · 2025-04
- In re Clearview AI, Inc. Settlement — Official Settlement WebsiteCourt-appointed Settlement Administrator
- In re Clearview AI, Inc. Consumer Privacy Litigation — docketCourtListener · 2026-08-04
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