Millions of Facebook users to receive privacy settlement
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People who filed claims in Facebook's $725 million privacy settlement in 2023 will begin receiving payments in the coming weeks. The long-awaited payout marks a new step toward resolving one of the largest tech privacy cases in recent years.
Who is eligible for compensation and how much?
On October 10, 2023, a federal court finally approved the settlement, which covers all US users between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022. The amount each claimant receives depends on how long they used the platform during that 15-year period.
According to court documents, users who maintained their accounts throughout the period are expected to receive a maximum compensation of just over $38, with the average award being approximately $29.
Each user’s payment is based on “allocation points,” which were assigned for every month a person had an active Facebook account between 2007 and 2022. The total pool of money is then divided by the number of points across all claimants. That means users who were on the platform longer will receive larger payments, while those with shorter account histories will get less.
How Data Was Abused
Facebook and Cambridge Analytica are facing a lawsuit alleging they exploited millions of user profiles to harvest data for use in political and commercial advertising. The complaint alleges that Cambridge Analytica, working with former CEO Alexander Nix and app developer Aleksandr Kogan, used a Facebook app called GSRApp (also known as "thisisyourdigitallife") to collect information on approximately 250,000 users and tens of millions of their friends. The app misled users about how their data would be collected and used.
Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, the law firm representing the plaintiffs, said the case seeks "compensation for American Facebook users whose private content was illegally shared with thousands of third parties."
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has also weighed in, filing a lawsuit against Cambridge Analytica in 2019 and making its settlement with Kogan and Nix public for comment. The FTC said the two companies used deceptive tactics to collect personal information for voter profiling and targeting.
The court did not rule in favor of either party; the plaintiffs and Facebook agreed to a settlement to avoid the expense and risk of litigation and allow class members to receive compensation.
Meta denies any wrong doing.
When will payments arrive?
The Settlement Administrator stated that payments began to be distributed this month and will continue to be distributed over the next 10 weeks.
Approved claimants will receive an email from the Settlement Administrator with an update and their claim ID number. Each payee will also receive a notification a few days before their payment is disbursed.