Facebook, also known as Meta, may owe you money.
If you were using the social-media site in the United States sometime between May 24, 2007 and December 22, 2022, then there is a good chance that you are eligible to claim part of its $725 million payout to users affected by a privacy breach.
Meta has faced various complaints and lawsuits over the years regarding privacy, and the way it shares user data. The lawsuits, which were later complied into a class-action, accuse Facebook of sharing user data to third parties without permission.
The lawsuits say that the social-media site did not effectively monitor or enforce its rules against doing this. Meta admits no fault in the claims by paying the $725 million to affected users. Newsweek has contacted Meta via email on Wednesday.
A widely reported example of a privacy breach occurred in 2018, when more than 50 million Facebook users found that their personal data had been shared and used by U.K.-based data firm Cambridge Analytica, which worked for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.
"There's no need for anyone to change their passwords. But people who are having trouble logging back into Facebook — for example because they've forgotten their password — should visit our Help Center," the platform wrote in a blog post on the Facebook Newsroom website.
In September 2018, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared on his own account news about the breach. "We patched the issue last night and are taking precautionary measures for those who might have been affected," he wrote.
"We face constant attacks from people who want to take over accounts or steal information around the world. While I'm glad we found this, fixed the vulnerability, and secured the accounts that may be at risk, the reality is we need to continue developing new tools to prevent this from happening in the first place," Zuckerberg added.
This incident was the catalyst for several government investigations into the company's privacy practices in the years leading up the incident.
How to Claim Your Share of Facebook's Settlement
To be eligible for your share of this settlement, you must submit a claim form by August 25 this year.
If the claim is approved, then you give up the right to sue the company. Those who wished to continue legally defending themselves had the opportunity to opt out by July 26, 2023, meaning users can no longer do this.
Those who do not claim as part of the settlement, and do not opt out, will receive no money and cannot take further action against Meta.
Right now, it is not certain how much money from the settlement may be handed out to those who are eligible.
The total received will also cover legal and administration fees, which may see those eligible gaining less money than expected.
A hearing on the settlement approval is set to take place on September 7, 2023, at 1 p.m. PT. This will take place before users receive their share of the payout. It's not clear the exact date payments will be issued, but the soonest they could be sent out is after the September court date.
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