Find out if you're owed money from the $90 million settlement over Facebook's tracking of data.
The clock is ticking. Next month is the last day to file a claim.
If you were a Facebook user in 2010 or 2011, and you had a profile on the social media site, you may be able to get a share of $90 million from a lawsuit that says Facebook illegally tracked users across other websites.
You'll need to move quickly, though, because the last day to file a claim is September 22, 2022.
In Davis v. Facebook, the plaintiffs say that Facebook knew it was breaking privacy, communications, and wiretapping laws, as well as its own contract, when it followed logged-out users to sites with a Facebook "Like" button.
In 2020, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals said that Facebook's sale of user data to make money was an invasion of privacy that hurt the economy. When the US Supreme Court said it wouldn't look into the case again in March 2021, talks about a settlement began.
In June, a district court in California gave preliminary approval to a class-action settlement that includes the $90 million payout and a promise from Facebook to delete any data that was wrongly collected.
Find out if you can get money from Facebook, how much you could get, and when you could get it.
Find out if you can get money from T-$350 Mobile's million data breach case or Apple's $14.8 million iCloud storage settlement to learn more about class action suits.
What does the lawsuit about tracking data say Facebook did?
The plaintiffs say that Facebook installed cookies on people's computers to track what they did on other websites, even when they were not signed in to Facebook.
In a lawsuit filed in 2011 in US District Court in San Jose, California, they said that this kind of monitoring broke the Federal Wiretap Act, the Stored Electronic Communications Act, and the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, among other laws.
In that same year, Facebook said that it personalized content for users by putting cookies on their computers that worked even when they were not logged in. At the time, the company told CNET that it quickly deleted cookies after a user logged out and that it didn't store or use cookie data for tracking.
But the lawsuit says, "This admission only came after an Australian technology blogger revealed that Facebook keeps track of members who have logged out, even though he told the defendant about the problems a year ago."
Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook, didn't respond to a request for comment, but the settlement says that it "explicitly denies any liability or wrongdoing at all."
Who can get money as part of the Facebook settlement?
Users in the US who used Facebook between April 22, 2010, and September 25, 2011, and went to websites with the "Like" button can be recipients, or "class members," in this case.
When is the last day to file a claim in the Facebook settlement?
Angeion, who is in charge of handling claims, has already sent emails to people who are in the class. If you got a personalized notice in the mail or by email, go to the claims site and enter the Notice ID and Confirmation Code you were given.
If you think you qualify but haven't been contacted, you can also file a claim on your own, but you only have until September 22, 2022, to do so.
People have until Sept. 12 to opt out of the settlement if they want to keep the right to file their own lawsuit. If you do nothing, you won't get paid and you won't be able to sue or join another lawsuit about the case.
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How much money do you think you could get?
On Oct. 27, 2022, in San Jose, California, the court will hold a final approval hearing to decide if the $90 million settlement is "fair, reasonable, and adequate."
It is not yet clear how many people will be in the class or how much each person will get.
In 2021, Facebook settled a lawsuit for $650 million. The lawsuit said that Facebook broke biometric laws in Illinois by collecting and storing users' physical traits without their permission. Each of the nearly 1.6 million Facebook users in the state got $397.
When will the settlement checks for Facebook be sent?
After the court makes a final decision about the settlement at the last hearing on Oct. 27, checks will be sent out. But the process could be slowed down by appeals.
The settlement site says, "It is always hard to tell if appeals will be made and, if they are, how long it will take to settle them." Payments for settlements will be made as soon as possible.