A new website has revealed that Facebook users have until August to claim their share of a $725 million class-action settlement of a lawsuit alleging privacy violations by the social media company. The case was prompted in 2018 after Facebook disclosed that the information of 87 million users was improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica, a British political consultancy used by the presidential campaign of Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, among others.
To be eligible for the settlement, people who had an active U.S. Facebook account between May 2007 and December 2022 must enter a claim by Aug. 25. However, individual settlement payments haven’t yet been established because payouts depend on how many users submit claims, and how long each user maintained a Facebook account.
The breach forced Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to testify before Congress and to take out full-page ads where he apologized for the missteps. Despite Facebook rebranding itself as Meta in 2021 and settling the class-action suit the following year, the company did not admit wrongdoing. “We pursued a settlement as it’s in the best interest of our community and shareholders,” a company spokesperson said. A spokesperson for Meta did not offer additional comment.
To make a claim, Facebook users can visit Facebookuserprivacysettlement.com and enter their name, address, email address, and confirm that they lived in the U.S. and were active on Facebook between the aforementioned dates.
