Are you a Facebook user? You have one month left to apply for a share of this $725M settlement

Facebook users in the U.S. have just one month remaining to stake their claim in a $725 million privacy settlement that Meta, Facebook’s parent company, conceded to late last year.

This settlement is the result of a lawsuit claiming that Meta allowed access to millions of users’ personal information by Cambridge Analytica, a firm involved in Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Eligibility for a payout extends to any U.S. resident who held a Facebook account between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022. Applicants can either complete an online form or print it out and send it via mail. The final date to apply is August 25.

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The exact amount each individual will receive remains uncertain. As the number of valid claims increases, each individual’s share of the settlement will decrease proportionally.

This case emerged from a 2018 revelation that Cambridge Analytica, a company linked to Trump’s political strategist Steve Bannon, compensated a Facebook app developer to gain access to around 87 million users’ personal data. This information was later used to influence U.S. voters during the 2016 campaign, which resulted in Trump’s presidency.

Public outcry over these findings resulted in a remorseful Zuckerberg being questioned by U.S. legislators, sparking calls for users to deactivate their Facebook accounts.

Despite the growth of competitive services such as TikTok, Facebook continues to command a global user base of over 2 billion, including an estimated 250 million users in the U.S.

Apart from the Cambridge Analytica issue, Meta has faced increasing scrutiny over data privacy concerns. For instance, in May, the EU imposed a record $1.3 billion fine on Meta and demanded a halt to transatlantic data transfers by October. Also, Meta’s new text-based app, Threads, has yet to launch in the EU due to these privacy concerns.

Contributions to this report were made by AP Business Writer Wyatte Grantham-Philips from New York.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Facebook Privacy Settlement

More about Facebook Privacy Settlement

• Facebook and Cambridge Analytica Scandal
• Meta’s Data Privacy Challenges
• EU’s Record Fine on Meta
• Facebook’s Global User Base
• Information on Applying for the Settlement