Users who held an active U.S. Facebook account between May 24, 2007 and Dec. 22, 2022, have until Aug. 25 to submit their claims for a portion of the $7250-million settlement concerning the Cambridge Analytica data scandal involving Meta Platforms Inc. META.
What Happened: With less than a month remaining, Facebook users can still apply for a portion of the $725-million settlement, which stems from the social network's privacy violations and the infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal.
The fallout from this incident had a significant impact on the U.S. electoral process and Silicon Valley.
Meta, Facebook's parent company, incurred a total cost of nearly $5.9 billion due to the scandal, including a record $5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and an additional $100 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
See Also: How to Buy Meta (Formerly Facebook Stock)
How To Apply: Individuals can provide their details like name, address and email associated with the account on the website facebookuserprivacysettlement.com to receive their payment via various channels such as their bank account or Venmo.
The exact individual settlement payments have not been determined yet, as they will be based on the number of users who submit claims and the duration of each user's active Facebook account.
The total payout will be distributed among eligible claimants, with those who utilized the platform for an extended period receiving a more significant share.
Why It’s Important: In 2018, Facebook revealed that the data of 87 million users had been inappropriately shared with Cambridge Analytica, which led to the initiation of the lawsuit.
The data was allegedly utilized to construct voter profiles and assist the campaign of former U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2016 election.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg previously acknowledged that the company erred in placing trust in third-party application developers such as Cambridge Analytica and failing to take adequate measures to prevent the misuse of user data.
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This story was originally published on April 21, 2023.
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