In order to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the social media behemoth of granting access to user data to outside companies, such as Cambridge Analytica, Facebook owner Meta Platforms has agreed to pay $725 million.
The long-running case brought on by allegations in 2018 that Facebook had permitted the British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica access to data on as many as 87 million users would be resolved by the proposed settlement, which was revealed in a court filing late Thursday.
The proposed payment was described as the largest ever reached in a US data privacy class action and the highest sum ever paid by Meta to settle a class action complaint by the plaintiffs’ attorneys.
The principal plaintiffs’ attorneys, Derek Loeser and Lesley Weaver, stated in a joint statement that “this historic settlement will provide real relief to the class in this complicated and unusual privacy issue.”
As part of the deal, which must be approved by a federal judge in San Francisco, Meta did not admit any wrongdoing. In a statement, the business claimed that reaching a settlement was “in the best interest of our community and stockholders.”
We have changed our approach to privacy over the past three years, and we’ve put in place a thorough privacy program, according to Meta.
The now-defunct Cambridge Analytica contributed to Donald Trump’s successful presidential campaign in 2016, gaining access to millions of Facebook accounts’ personal data for the purposes of voter profiling and targeting.
Without the users’ permission, Cambridge Analytica received the data from a researcher who was given permission by Facebook to utilize an app on its social media network to harvest data from millions of its users.
The ensuing Cambridge Analytica crisis sparked legal actions, regulatory inquiries into the company’s privacy policies, and a prominent congressional hearing when Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, was questioned by MPs.
In 2019, Facebook agreed to pay $5 billion to settle an investigation into its privacy practices by the Federal Trade Commission and $100 million to resolve SEC allegations that it misled investors about the misuse of user data.
The corporation is defending itself against a lawsuit brought by the attorney general of Washington, DC, as well as ongoing investigations by state attorneys general.
The settlement announced on Thursday addressed complaints from Facebook users that the corporation had illegally harvested their personal data on a large scale without their permission from app developers and business partners.
According to the users’ attorneys, Facebook misled people into believing they could maintain control over personal data when, in reality, it allowed thousands of predetermined outsiders access.
Facebook claimed that its users’ information shared with friends on social media is not subject to any reasonable privacy interest. However, US District Judge Vince Chhabria referred to such viewpoint as “so erroneous” and generally permitted the case to proceed in 2019.
According to the court document filed on Thursday, the settlement applies to between 250 million and 280 million Facebook users. The number of individuals who make legitimate claims for a share of the settlement will determine how much each user receives.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys claim they intend to petition the judge to grant them up to 25% of the settlement as legal fees, or around $181 million.
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