Facebook’s parent company, Meta, has agreed to a $725 million settlement to settle a class-action lawsuit related to the Cambridge Analytica data collection scandal.
Firstly report by Reuters earlier today, agreement after nearly four months after the first news came out that Meta proposed a settlement in the Northern District of California, where the lawsuit was first filed four years ago. In recent years, Meta has pushed back against a lawsuit, which aggregates complaints from many Facebook users, alleging that people who voluntarily sign up for the social network there should be no real expectations about privacy — an assertion the judge overseeing the case in 2019 called “that’s wrong.”
The scandal in question – one of many hacked the world of Facebook for years – involving now defunct UK political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica that channel data from tens of millions of Facebook users through a survey app called MyDigitalLife, with the aim of influencing voter behavior using targeted advertising. The privacy violence then led to various fines and settlements, with Meta (then known as Facebook) pay 5 billion USD as part of an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), 100 million USD to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for misleading investors and modest £500,000 ($600,000) to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office.
It’s also important to note that while the origin of this class action is Cambridge Analytica, it has expanded to include other third parties who may have improperly used Facebook user data.
Face the music
While Meta’s co-founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg previously testified before Congress about the scandal, his reaction be a bit evasive and apart from one Testimonials are carefully controlled before the EU Parliament soon after, the people at the top at Meta did not face any further direct questions on the matter. With this impending lawsuit, however, Zuckerberg, former COO Sheryl Sandberg and new COO Javier Olivan all set to testify again at an upcoming hearing. This is something that Meta clearly doesn’t want, and it’s clearly not going to happen once an interim agreement has been reached.
inside submit Notifying the court of the proposed settlement, the attorneys concluded that the settlement agreed between the plaintiffs and Meta was an “extraordinary outcome,” resulting in “the largest recovery ever.” reached in a class-action lawsuit over data privacy and the largest amount Facebook has ever paid.” to close a private class action.
They wrote:
The amount of the withdrawal is particularly notable because Facebook argues that its users consented to the problematic activities and that the class suffered no actual damage. The plaintiffs dispute these characteristics, but admit that they face enormous risks in this novel and complex case. In addition to the monetary relief received by Plaintiff, Facebook has significantly altered the practices that led to Plaintiff’s allegations, as outlined in statements by two Facebook employees aware of those facts.
However, the $725 million deal will see Meta once again admit no wrongdoing, saying in a statement sent to Reuters that the deal is “in the good faith”. of our community and our shareholders.” Furthermore, the settlement applies to every Facebook user in the US who, if they want to sign up, will receive only a few dollars each.
The settlement has yet to be rubber stamped, although this is expected to happen at the next hearing on March 2, 2023.
Even so, Meta has yet to hear the final news about Cambridge Analytica, with Washington, DC personal lawsuit against ZuckerbergAlleged that he was personally responsible for the failures that led to the scandal.
