Facebook is now rolling out $725 million settlement payouts. Here's how much eligible users could get
Facebook users: Were you in the US between May 24, 2007 and Dec. 22, 2022?
If you were and you filed a claim for a cut of Facebook’s $725 million privacy settlement, then you are due to receive your payout over the next 10 weeks.
On behalf of Facebook account holders, numerous lawsuits claimed that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, shared users’ private data with undisclosed third parties without the users’ permission.
Prompting the litigation were users who were affected by the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal. The British consulting firm, which has closed down, was accused of collecting personal data from as many as 87 million Facebook users. At the time, Cambridge Analytica was involved with US President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign.
Around 29 million claims were filed, with 18 million of them “validated,” according to a legal document filed by Meta in 2024.
Based on the same document, Meta says the average payment would be approximately $29.43 (P1,672), with the maximum amount coming up to $38.36 (P2,180).
The exact amount will be computed based on the number of users with valid claims, and how long the claimant was a Facebook user during the mentioned time period.
Meta has denied any liability or wrongdoing. According to court documents, the company has only moved to settle the case to avoid the “uncertainties, burden, expense, and delay” that a prolonged case would bring.
