How to claim a share of Meta’s privacy lawsuit settlement

Now that Meta has finally agreed to settle an ongoing privacy lawsuit over the misuse of its users’ data, Facebook users now have until August to file a claim and get a share of the $725 million settlement that the company has offered as compensation.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, was accused of improperly using data by targeting its users with political ads. 

Following the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018, evidence emerged that a political marketing company had managed to gain access without authorization to Facebook’s user data. 

The company then used this information to create targeted political ads that were aimed at certain users. This was used on behalf of the 2016 presidential candidate Donald Trump and the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union, which also took place in 2016. 

Meta has now agreed to pay a total of $725 million in compensation, despite denying any wrongdoing. Anyone who had a Facebook account between May 2007 and December 2022 may be able to claim a share of this settlement, providing they meet certain conditions. 

How to make a claim

This claim only applies to Facebook users who lived in the US at any time between May 2007 and December 2022. Although Facebook has around 2 billion users globally, those living in other countries around the world currently can’t claim any compensation for this case. 

To make a claim, users are directed to this website. After registering with their name, email address, postal address, and phone number, they are asked to confirm if they lived in the US during the specified time and whether they were using a Facebook account. 

They will also need details of their Facebook account to hand, including the email address associated with the account and when the account was active. Users can make a claim even if the account has been deleted, as long as it was active during the 15-year time period.