Facebook users in the United States who had an active account between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022, can apply for their share of a $725 million settlement being paid out by the platform’s parent company Meta Platforms over the Cambridge Analytica data scandal.
Meta in December agreed to pay the whopping sum to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the tech giant of allowing third parties including data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica to access users’ private information and misleading users over its data collection policies.
It was revealed in 2018 that the British firm, which worked on former US President Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign, had collected the data of 87 million Facebook users without their consent. Most Facebook users impacted were in the United States.
Facebook users can apply for their share of the settlement by filling out a claim form which requires their personal information, such as their address, and details about their Facebook account.
Any person who was a Facebook user at any time between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022, who has since deleted their accounts can also apply.
Applicants need to select a payment method, either prepaid Mastercard, PayPal, Venmo, direct deposit to a bank account, Zelle payment to a bank account, or cheque.
The deadline to submit the claim form is 11.59 PM Pacific Time on August 25, 2023.
How much cash each applicant will receive depends on the number of Facebook users who file a claim and how long they used Facebook for during the period.
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