Facebook's $90 Million Settlement

Facebook's $90 Million Settlement
Photo by Alexander Shatov / Unsplash

We recently reported that Facebook had agreed to pay $90 million USD to settle an Internet data-tracking lawsuit. The September 22, 2022 deadline to file a claim is rapidly approaching. Read onwards for a quick summary of how to submit a claim.

What is this case about?  Plaintiffs claim that FB would track people’s Web-browsing on external websites, even after people were signed out of their FB accounts. How? Because FB would install cookies on users’ computers.

Who is eligible to receive money from the FB settlement?  US users of FB who, between April 2010 and Sept. 2011, visited websites that displayed the FB “LIKE” button.

What’s the deadline?  September 22, 2022

How can I file a claim?  Two ways.

Option 1:  The claims administrator has already emailed eligible class        members. If you received a personalized notice in your email, then go to this website and enter the Notice ID and Confirmation Code you were provided.

Option 2:  Even if you were not contacted by the claims administrator, you can still submit a claim by going here and filling out the information from the right side under the blue “CLICK HERE” button.

How much money will I get?  It depends on how many class members submit valid claims and how much the Court awards in attorneys’ fees. That hearing will not take place until October 27, 2022. As a comparison point though, the prior $650 million USD settlement by FB for biometric tracking resulted in $397 payouts to each class member for the 1.6 million FB users in Illinois who submitted valid claims.

Here, the settlement amount is less ($90 million compared to $650 million) and the class members are potentially much more than 1.6 million Illinois residents. So you should not expect to receive anywhere close to $397 per person.