Facebook User Privacy Settlement Payment: Here’s How To Know If You Qualify

Source Domain: blavity.com

Some Facebook users have received emails notifying them that they will receive a second round of payments from parent company Meta’s $725 million class-action privacy settlement.

What is the Facebook lawsuit about and how much did users receive in payouts?

Blavity previously reported that Cambridge Analytica improperly obtained the personal data of more than 87 million Facebook users in 2018 and used the information for political advertising efforts supporting President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Anyone in the U.S. with a Facebook account between May 24, 2007, and Dec. 22, 2022, was eligible to file a claim before the August 2023 deadline. At the time, Meta denied any wrongdoing regarding the data breach, and legal battles ensued. Although the settlement received final approval later that year, two appeals delayed payments until they were resolved in May 2025.

After legal and reimbursement fees, eight lead plaintiffs received $120,000. The remaining $540 million of the “net settlement fund” was distributed to people who had Facebook accounts between 2007 and 2022. While 19 million people filed claims, only 17 million received between $25 and $30 in the first round of payments.

Details on the second checks and how much eligible users will receive

“The second distribution was approved by the Court to redistribute uncashed funds from the initial distribution to settlement class members who successfully cashed their initial payment,” according to the settlement website and NBC Chicago.

The checks will be distributed in June in batches over four weeks, with the first round of payouts issued on June 9. Users are likely to receive between $5 and $7 in the second round of payouts, according to Yahoo! Finance.

Only claimants who filed before the August 2023 deadline and received an initial payment are eligible for the second round of distributions.

Source