Users of Facebook are now eligible to apply for compensation under the “data privacy settlement.”
Members of Facebook who maintained an active account at any time between May 2007 and December 2022 are now eligible to apply for a share of the parent firm Meta’s $725 million settlement relating to the Cambridge Analytica incident.
In order to resolve a long-running class action lawsuit, Meta agreed to pay the settlement sum in December. The lawsuit charged Meta with deceiving consumers about its privacy policies and enabling Cambridge Analytica and other third parties to access private data about users.
Following a worldwide protest over the corporation’s admission that Cambridge Analytica, a data analytics firm that cooperated with the Trump campaign, had accessed the confidential data of as many as 87 million members of Facebook, the legal dispute started four years ago.
Late last month, the California judge presiding over the lawsuit gave the settlement preliminary permission, and Facebook users are now eligible for a cash payment as a component of a settlement.
The claim form, which asks for some personal information as well as specifics about a user’s Facebook account, can be completed online or printed out and mailed. To be a part of the development, the form must be filed by August 25 and takes just a few minutes to complete.
Any American Facebook user who had an active account at some point between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022, even those who have since erased their accounts, is entitled to be a part of the compensation class.
As part of the settlement, Meta made no admission of guilt. Following the Cambridge Analytica incident, Facebook changed its policies, limiting third parties’ access to user data and enhancing user messaging regarding data collection and sharing.
Meta spokesman Dina Luce said in a statement after the December settlement deal that “we explored a compromise as it’s in the best interest of our community and shareholders.” “Over the past three years, we completely redesigned our approach to privacy and put in place a robust privacy programme.” With privacy at the centre, we look forward to constructing services people will love and trust in the future.