How to Claim Your money from Facebook ?

How to Claim Your Share of Facebook’s $725 Million Privacy Settlement ?

In July 2021, Facebook announced a settlement of $725 million to end a class-action lawsuit accusing the social media giant of violating users' privacy rights. If you believe you are entitled to a share of the settlement, here are the steps you can take:

Determine if you are eligible: The settlement covers Facebook users in the United States who appeared in a photo or video on Facebook that was uploaded by someone else without their permission between may 24 2007 and Dec  2022. You can check your eligibility by visiting the settlement website at www.facebookbiometricsettlement.com.

File a claim: If you are eligible, you can file a claim online at the settlement website. You will need to provide your name, email address, and Facebook username, as well as the approximate dates when you believe the unauthorized photos or videos were uploaded.

Wait for the claim to be processed: After you submit your claim, it will be reviewed to determine if you are eligible to receive a payment from the settlement fund.

Receive your payment: If your claim is approved, you will receive a payment from the settlement fund. The amount of your payment will depend on how many people file claims, but it is expected to be around $200 per person.

It's important to note that the deadline to file untill  Aug 25, so if you believe you are eligible, you should act quickly to file your claim.The final hearing to approve the settlement is set for Sept. 7 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

How to fill a form of Facebook privacy settlement?

If you are eligible to file a claim for the Facebook privacy settlement, you can follow these steps to fill out the form:

Go to the settlement website: Visit www.facebookbiometricsettlement.com to access the claim form.

Provide your information: You will need to provide your name, email address, and Facebook username.

Identify the photos or videos: You will need to identify the photos or videos in which you appeared that were uploaded to Facebook without your permission. You can either provide the URL of the content or describe the content in detail, including when and where it was posted.

Submit your claim: Once you have provided all the necessary information, review your claim to make sure it is accurate, and then submit it.

Confirmation: After submitting the claim, you will receive a confirmation email stating that your claim has been received.

Wait for the outcome: Your claim will be reviewed to determine if you are eligible for a payment from the settlement fund. If your claim is approved, you will receive a payment.

It is important to fill out the form accurately and provide all the necessary information. If you have any questions or need assistance with the claim form, you can contact the settlement administrator for help.

If it’s not a lot of money, should I even file a claim?

While it’s unlikely to result in a big payday for Facebook users, it’s still smart to file a claim. In addition to getting enough for at least a couple lattes, these settlements can send a message to the companies.

“Even when it’s a relatively low dollar amount, one of the other main purposes of consumer class actions isn’t compensation, its deterrence,” says Adam Zimmerman, a professor of law at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles who specializes in class actions. “Yes, 80 million people might not even really care to recover their small amounts but we don’t want to create a procedural system where a company can do that over and over to consumers.”

When will I actually get paid?

Don’t make any big plans for your money yet. The final hearing to approve the settlement doesn’t happen until September. Even if approved, there could be bureaucratic and legal delays such as appeals. If it is approved, it could take at least 90 more days for the payment process to start, says Zimmerman.

Facebook’s parent company, Meta, agreed last year to settle a class-action lawsuit that accused the company of sharing user data or making it accessible to third parties, including the data and political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, without users’ permission. The class-action lawsuit, which refers to when one or more individuals sue on behalf of other people with similar claims, also claimed that Facebook did not monitor the third-party access or use of that data.

The long-running lawsuit was filed after revelations in 2018 that Cambridge Analytica used private information from the Facebook profiles of millions of users without their permission in one of the largest data leaks in Facebook’s history. The breach gave Cambridge Analytica access to the social media activity of millions of Facebook users in the United States to build voter profiles and allowed the company to aid former President Donald J. Trump’s campaign in 2016.

Meta denies any liability or wrongdoing. It has said that data from as many as 87 million users, mostly in the United States, may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica during the 2016 election.

Authorized claimants will be assigned one point for each month in which they had an activated Facebook account. The settlement administrator will then add up the total points assigned to all claimants and divide that number by the net settlement amount, $725 million minus administrative costs and other fees, to determine the amount of money available for each point. Each claimant will receive that amount multiplied by the number of points they were assigned, according to the settlement website.

"We pursued a settlement as it’s in the best interest of our community and shareholders,” Meta spokesperson Dina Luce said in a statement following the December settlement agreement. “Over the last three years we revamped our approach to privacy and implemented a comprehensive privacy program. We look forward to continuing to build services people love and trust with privacy at the forefront.”