Facebook's parent company Meta has agreed to pay a total of $725 million to its users to settle a lawsuit against it. The tech giant has been accused of sharing users' data without their consent. Now, users can claim a part of the settlement amount if they meet certain conditions, reported Fast Company magazine.
A number of lawsuits were filed against Facebook alleging that the company shared users' and their friends' data without seeking permission from them. The lawsuits also claim that Facebook did not sufficiently monitor third parties who were given access to users' data.
The lawsuits were later consolidated into a class-action lawsuit against Facebook. While the tech giant has denied the allegations it has agreed to pay $725 million to settle the lawsuit.
Who is eligible to claim the settlement?
Eligible people can claim the settlement money if they were using Facebook between May 24, 2007, and December 22. Such users need to make a claim and fill up an online claim form by August 25, 2023. But only those in the US are entitled to the settlement money or the users who were residing in the US between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022.
Users who currently don't have a Facebook account but used the platform between the mentioned dates can claim the amount. The claim form requires the users to provide their personal details such as name, address, phone number, country, and email address. One is also required to choose the payment method through which the amount will be transferred.In April 2018, Facebook said that the personal data of its 87 million users was improperly shared with British political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.
“In total, we believe the Facebook information of up to 87 million people -- mostly in the US -- may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica," Facebook's then chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer had said.
