Facebook’s data privacy class action lawsuit — How to get your portion of the $725 million settlement.
What happened?
Recently, Facebook agreed to pay a settlement of $725 million in a class action lawsuit over the violation of user data privacy. This landmark settlement is a reminder of the importance of safeguarding user data online, and the consequences that companies face if they fail to do so.
Why it happened.
In 2018, it was revealed that the data of 87 million Facebook users was improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica during the 2016 Presidential election. Cambridge Analytica was a political consulting company that specialized in using consumer data to support political campaigns.
The class action lawsuit accused Facebook of providing Cambridge Analytica with access to sensitive user information without their consent. This information was used to target political ads to Facebook users during the 2016 United States Presidential Election, thus violating user privacy rights. Although the public was only made aware of this data breach in 2018, emails from the investigation show that Facebook knew about the data being harvested by the consulting firm as early as 2015.
Who does the class action lawsuit impact?
This specific lawsuit impact U.S. Facebook users who had an active account between May 2007 and December 2022. Anyone who meets this criteria may submit a claim to get their portion of the $725 million settlement. If you’re reading this, you likely meet the criteria.
What can you do about it?
Submit your claim
U.S. Facebook users who meet the above-mentioned criteria have until August 25, 2023 to submit their claim. You may visit the following site to submit your claim: facebookuserprivacysettlement.com
Take control of your personal data
As the digital world continues to evolve, our personal information is everywhere. Rather than being reactive and submitting a claim for your share of a class action lawsuit, take a few minutes of your time to be proactive about your personal data. By signing up for Vael, you have the ability to take back your data and start getting paid for it.
Vael empowers you to take back your data by easily telling companies to delete and no longer sell your information. When you use Vael to take back your data, you have the control to determine its worth and who can have access to it.
Visit us at vael.co and sign up for free.
Moving Forward.
The $725 million Facebook settlement is a significant reminder of the importance of data privacy and the consequences companies face for violating it.
As internet users, we desperately need to take a proactive role in protecting our personal information online. This includes:
- creating strong passwords;
- enabling two-factor authentication;
- using a VPN;
- using privacy-focused internet browsers and search engines;
- using privacy-focused email accounts;
- seeking alternatives to platforms like Facebook that do not value your personal data privacy; and
- exercising our data rights under the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) and other State data privacy laws to delete our data and prevent companies from selling our information to third parties. This can be done by using Vael, absolutely free.
Lastly, we need to move away from products and services that exploit our personal data for their financial gain. Instead, we need to embrace companies that prioritize data privacy and take the necessary steps to ensure the protection of user data.
