Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. has agreed to pay $4.7 million to settle claims under Illinois’ biometric privacy law over its Skin360 skin-assessment tool, and anyone who ran an assessment while in Illinois between December 9, 2019 and May 5, 2023 can file for a share until November 25, 2026. The company, now known as Kenvue Brands LLC, denies violating the law. The settlement site publishes no per-person estimate, so the payment depends on how many valid claims come in and how much the court approves for attorneys’ fees. A federal judge in New Jersey is scheduled to rule on the deal on December 17.
The deciding question for a Neutrogena or NeoStrata app user is whether an old assessment counts. The class covers any version of Skin360, including Neutrogena Skin360, NeoStrata Skin360 and versions built in collaboration with other companies, run through a mobile or web application. The test is location, not residency: the assessment has to have happened while the user was in Illinois. Going by that wording, an Illinois resident who ran one while traveling is outside the class, and a visitor who ran one in Chicago is inside it.
Three dates sit on this settlement, November 10, November 25 and December 17, and each one controls a different right. The Settlement & Refund Recovery System explains the four-date rule for reading a settlement notice and gives a step-by-step filing walkthrough.
Sort the Skin360 November dates before filing with the Settlement & Refund Recovery System →
The Illinois law behind the case
The claims arise under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, usually shortened to BIPA, in a case called Melzer v. Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., No. 3:22-CV-03149, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. Section 15 of the state statute requires a private company to give written notice before collecting biometric data, state the purpose and length of time the data will be kept, and get a written release. It also bars selling or profiting from the data and requires a published retention schedule, with destruction once the purpose is met or within three years of the person’s last interaction, whichever comes first.
The settlement resolves those claims without any finding against the company. Johnson & Johnson Consumer denies wrongdoing, and the court has not yet signed off. Judges review a class deal at a fairness hearing, and this one is set for 10 a.m. Eastern on December 17, 2026, in Courtroom 5W of the Clarkson S. Fisher Building & U.S. Courthouse in Trenton. Objections and exclusion requests are due November 10, which is 15 days before the claim deadline.
Where the assessment happened decides the class
The class period opens December 9, 2019 and closes May 5, 2023, which is three years and five months of Skin360 use. Excluded are Johnson & Johnson Consumer and its affiliates and employees, the judges on the case and their immediate families and staff, lawyers for both sides, and anyone who validly opts out. According to the settlement’s FAQ, people who do nothing are bound by the final judgment and a release of claims against the company and other released parties if the court approves the deal.
Opting out is the alternative to filing. A signed letter, mailed or emailed by November 10, has to name the case, give the person’s name, address, phone number and email, state that an Illinois Skin360 assessment was run during the class period, and say that exclusion is wanted. Each request covers one person, and group requests are not accepted. Someone who opts out gets no payment but keeps the right to sue separately, subject to the statute of limitations.
What $4.7 million becomes after fees
The company pays the fund, and valid claimants split it in equal shares after deductions. Class counsel may ask for up to one-third of the fund plus costs, which would be about $1.57 million at the cap, and each class representative may ask for up to $5,000. Administration costs also come out of the fund. Any fees or awards the court declines to approve go back to claimants, and money that cannot be distributed goes to a recipient the court approves.
No one can say yet what an equal share is worth. The number depends on how many valid claims arrive by November 25 and on what the judge approves on December 17. The settlement site offers no estimate, so any dollar figure quoted for Skin360 claimants before then is a guess.
Payment comes later still. Checks go out after the December 17 hearing and after the settlement’s effective date, which arrives only once all appeals are resolved, and the FAQ says appeals could take more than a year. The administrator pays as soon as practicable. Checks expire 90 days after issue and expired checks are not replaced, so a claimant who moves in the meantime needs the administrator to hold a current mailing address.
Filing the Skin360 claim by November 25
The route that costs nothing is the settlement website, Skin360BIPASettlement.com, where a claim can be filed online. A paper form can be requested from the administrator and mailed, postmarked by November 25, to P.O. Box 3116, Baton Rouge, LA 70821, or the request can be emailed to info@Skin360BIPASettlement.com. Class members who do not submit a valid claim by the deadline receive no compensation.
The calendar builds a one-way door into the process. The exclusion deadline of November 10 comes before the claim deadline, so a person who wants to keep the option of a separate lawsuit has to decide before the claim window has closed. Filing a claim and staying in the class means accepting the release if the court approves the deal on December 17.
The $4.7 million is fixed. How much of it reaches claimants is not, because up to one-third plus costs can go to class counsel and the judge’s decision on December 17 sets that figure. Until the court rules and the claims are counted, the size of an equal share stays unknown.
Payment may trail the December 17 hearing by a year
The opt-out date, the claim deadline and the hearing all sit on one Skin360 notice, and a payment can wait on appeals long after the hearing. The Settlement & Refund Recovery System walks through the four-date rule for reading a settlement notice and keeps a claim log and payment tracker for the wait.
Track the Skin360 claim and its payout in the Settlement & Refund Recovery System claim log →
This article was prepared with AI assistance from cited public sources and reviewed before publication.
