Facebook data breach settlement payments begin distribution

Key Points

• Payment Amount: The average settlement payment will be around $29, with a maximum of $38.36.
• Eligibility: Users must have used Facebook between 2007 and 2022 and filed a claim by the August 2023 deadline.
• Settlement Distribution: Payments will begin in September and continue over 10 weeks.
• Total Settlement: The overall settlement amount totals $725 million.

If you used Facebook at any time during a 15-year period, keep an eye on your bank account.

Settlement payments related to the several-years-old Cambridge Analytica data breach scandal are starting to roll out this month, per CBS News. A court filing cited by CBS News says the average payment amount will come out to around $29 per person, with the maximum going all the way to $38.36. The first payments will be sent in September, with the rest going out over the course of 10 weeks. Anyone who is getting a payment should get an email a few days ahead of time. The total settlement amount came out to $725 million.

Those who are eligible for these payments are people who used Facebook between 2007 and 2022 and remembered to file a claim before the deadline in Aug. 2023. Apologies to those who forgot or never heard about it until now.

This money is related to a court settlement Facebook reached regarding the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which a British data firm of that name was accused of scraping data from more than 50 million Facebook users without their knowledge or consent. Cambridge Analytica was employed by the 2016 Donald Trump presidential campaign and took some credit for Trump’s victory in that election due to its recognition of demographic shifts that the campaign took advantage of.

Approximately $30 per person may not feel like enough to compensate for…all of that, but hey, it’s something.