If you are a Facebook user in the United States, you have less than a month to apply for a share of a $725 million privacy settlement that parent company Meta agreed to pay. The settlement is related to a lawsuit alleging that Facebook allowed millions of users’ personal information to be accessed by Cambridge Analytica, a firm that supported Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
To be eligible for a payment, you must have had a Facebook account between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022. The deadline to apply is August 25, and the amount of money each user will receive is uncertain, as it depends on the number of valid claims submitted.
The case originated from revelations in 2018 that Cambridge Analytica had paid a Facebook app developer for access to the personal information of approximately 87 million users. This data was then used to target U.S. voters during the 2016 campaign. The incident caused public outrage and led to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg facing questioning from U.S. lawmakers. It also prompted calls for users to delete their Facebook accounts. Despite facing criticism and competition from platforms like TikTok, Facebook still has over 2 billion users worldwide, including an estimated 250 million in the U.S.
In addition to the Cambridge Analytica case, Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has faced ongoing scrutiny over data privacy. In May, the European Union imposed a record $1.3 billion fine on Meta and ordered it to stop transferring users’ personal information across the Atlantic by October. Meta’s new app, Threads, has not been launched in the EU due to privacy concerns.
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