Meta settles Cambridge Analytica data harvesting litigation for record $725M
Written by Lucky Wilson | KGTO Writer on December 29, 2022
Meta data harvesting class action settlement overview:
- Who: Meta Platforms agreed to pay $725 million to resolve claims brought against it by a group of current and former Facebook users.
- Why: The settlement ends claims revolving around Facebook’s alleged failure to prevent Cambridge Analytica and other third parties from accessing Facebook users’ private data without their consent.
- Where: The Meta settlement agreement would benefit Facebook users nationwide.
Meta Platforms agreed to pay a record $725 million to resolve claims related to its alleged involvement in the Cambridge Analytica data harvesting scandal.
The funds from the settlement agreement will go toward compensating millions of Facebook users affected by the Cambridge Analytica data harvesting scandal, according to the Meta settlement.
The settlement ends multidistrict litigation first brought against Facebook in 2018 by a group of current and former Facebook users who claimed the company failed to prevent Cambridge Analytica and other third parties from accessing their private data.
The current and former Facebook users reportedly argued they did not consent to having third parties access their private data and that Facebook’s alleged inaction violated the Stored Communications Act and the Video Privacy Protection Act.
Facebook users previously reached settlement in principle
News of the settlement agreement first came to light in August when Facebook users told a federal judge in California that they had come to an agreement in principle with Meta Platforms.
If approved, the $725 million would go into a non-reversionary settlement fund that counsel for the Facebook users estimates could compensate between 250 million and 280 million users of the social media platform since its launch in 2007.
“To Plaintiffs’ knowledge, this is the largest amount recovered by users in any U.S. data-privacy class action, including data-breach class actions, which often involve some measure of out-of-pocket economic harm,” the Facebook users’ notice of motion states.
In other Meta news, earlier this year, a young Facebook user filed a class action lawsuit against Meta, arguing the company sacrificed children’s mental health through its pursuit of increasing revenue.
What do you think of the Meta settlement? Let us know in the comments!
The Meta data harvesting class action lawsuit is In re: Facebook Inc. Consumer Privacy User Profile Litigation, Case No. 3:18-md-02843, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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