Social media platform Facebook has been met with yet another set of legal issues and controversy. Founded in 2004, this Social Networking site was originally built and designed for students from Harvard University. With its ever-increasing popularity, it branched out to other colleges. With over 3 billion users, it is currently one of the world’s largest social media networks. With these many users, it is not surprising that more issues surround them than most of the other Social Media Outlets.
Everything you need to know about this lawsuit
Two of the main points of concern raised in 2008 were that the site allowed and/or promoted misinformation about political elections to be disseminated. A further issue was that third-party organizations could gain access to the data of Facebook users. A lot of residents of New Jersey were affected. To optimally handle the situation, a class-action lawsuit was filed.
In simple terms, this matter can be broken down and explained as an “Internet Tracking” settlement. Facebook was accused of tracking the activities of subscribers on websites other than Facebook, even while being signed out of the Social Media platform. The company itself denied any wrongdoing in this matter. They agreed to the settlement to avoid any costs and risks associated with further continuation of the case.
The situation in this instance was dealt with by way of a class action lawsuit. This happens in situations where a plaintiff brings a lawsuit against a large corporation or entity, usually on behalf of a great number of affected people. Handling similar litigation in this matter helps to alleviate legal costs. Claim amounts are variable and depend on several factors.
Facebook was accused that they tracked their users’ activity across non-Facebook websites. This allowed non-Facebook affiliates the opportunity to direct users to third-party websites. This was done by using Facebook’s “Like” button. The Facebook User Privacy Settlement became eligible for active Facebook users between the period 22 April 2010 and 25 September 2011.
Facebook’s parent company settled this lawsuit in 2022 for the value of $90 million. The effective date of the settlement was only set down for February 2025. 10 April 2025 was D-Day and saw the first payments for Facebook users in this lawsuit being made. Settlement amounts averaged about $40 per claimant. The due date for submitting claims was September 2022.
From settlement to payout – how the money is divided
The extensive time lapse between when the initial claims were lodged and when the actual payments took place has seen a lot of individuals forget about everything. But considering the amount of money that the settlement was based on, one wonders where the rest of the money went. How you go from a $90 million settlement to a payout averaging about $40:
- $3,930,480.87 in attorneys’ expenses.
- $26,100,000 in attorneys’ fees.
- $2,353,535.26 for the Settlement Administration Costs.
- The service awards for the class representatives amounted to $3,000 for each Plaintiff and $5,000 for each MDL Plaintiff.
How were settlement payments distributed?
As could have been seen, payment amounts were variable and dependent on various factors, such as administrative costs, valid claims submitted, etc. Payments to those eligible individuals were made via direct deposit to, amongst others, Zelle, PayPal, Venmo, and virtual prepaid cards. Payment by mailed check was also one of the available options to choose from.
The duration between claim submission and the payout was years apart, so you would be forgiven for wondering about the legitimacy of it all. Payments would have been received from Angeion Group, the official settlement administrator. Another crucial point is that you would have needed to have submitted a claim during 2022. Verifying the electronic credentials of the sender with those of the official settlement is a good start. Unfortunately, if you missed the claim deadline of 22 September 2022, you will not be able to benefit from this lawsuit.
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