Facebook Agrees To Massive Settlement For Data Privacy Class Action Lawsuit (apnews.com) 25
Here's an announcement from lawfirm DiCello Levitt Gutzler. This week a U.S. District court "granted preliminary approval of a $90 million settlement" with Facebook's parent company, Meta Platforms, "to resolve a long-running class action accusing Facebook of tracking its subscribers' activities on non-Facebook websites — even while signed out of their Facebook accounts."
"The monetary component makes this the seventh-largest data privacy class action settlement ever to receive preliminary court approval."
Long-time Slashdot reader destinyland quotes the announcement: Individuals who, between April 22, 2010, and September 25, 2011, inclusive, were Facebook users in the United States and visited non-Facebook websites that displayed the Facebook Like button, may be eligible for a payment from the settlement fund. Email notices from the claims administrator, Angeion, have started to go out, and will continue in batches through July 15, 2022. Recipients of an email notice should note an ID and confirmation code in the top left corner, which should be use in submitting their claim.
However, even those who do not receive an email notice are still permitted to file a claim, and the administrator will determine whether they are eligible.
The correct link to the class action lawsuit website is: fbinternettrackingsettlement.com/
The deadline to submit a claim is September 22, 2022.
Komando.com adds that "While Facebook has denied any wrongdoing, it chose to settle the matter outside of court before it went to trial..."
"It's impossible to tell how much you can get at this stage in the lawsuit, as the final payout will depend on the number of claims submitted and additional fees. All settlement class members will be paid in equal amounts."
"The monetary component makes this the seventh-largest data privacy class action settlement ever to receive preliminary court approval."
Long-time Slashdot reader destinyland quotes the announcement: Individuals who, between April 22, 2010, and September 25, 2011, inclusive, were Facebook users in the United States and visited non-Facebook websites that displayed the Facebook Like button, may be eligible for a payment from the settlement fund. Email notices from the claims administrator, Angeion, have started to go out, and will continue in batches through July 15, 2022. Recipients of an email notice should note an ID and confirmation code in the top left corner, which should be use in submitting their claim.
However, even those who do not receive an email notice are still permitted to file a claim, and the administrator will determine whether they are eligible.
The correct link to the class action lawsuit website is: fbinternettrackingsettlement.com/
The deadline to submit a claim is September 22, 2022.
Komando.com adds that "While Facebook has denied any wrongdoing, it chose to settle the matter outside of court before it went to trial..."
"It's impossible to tell how much you can get at this stage in the lawsuit, as the final payout will depend on the number of claims submitted and additional fees. All settlement class members will be paid in equal amounts."
Yay! Everybody gets ONE NICKEL. (Score:3, Insightful)
Facebook's daily active users currently stands at 1.908 BILLION people. So if we ignore the lawyer's fees and evenly divide the $90 million dollar settlement, that would mean everybody gets slightly less than a nickel each.
You keep using that word... (Score:5, Informative)
$90 million may be "massive" to the common person, but to Facebook it is just under 4 days worth of profit. That isn't "massive".
Re:You keep using that word... (Score:5, Informative)
And that date interval is 521 days, so less than 1% of profit.
This isn't "massive" this is "cost of doing business"
Re: (Score:2)
This is where free market theory (bad actors losing) falls flat on it's face.
Nope, Facebook is still there (Score:3)
And you're still feeding a troll.
But I sometimes still feel like congratulating anyone who has offended the trolls so much. Then I remember the trolls' personal worth and the congratulations would have to be minor.
The worst part is that by doing nothing you lose (Score:2)
your right to sue them even if you don't even know about this shit. That alone is worth the cost to them as I'm sure millions of people don't even know.
Massive ??? (Score:5, Insightful)
These corporations are so big and so wealthy they need to be fined as a % of gross income (too easy to hide profit), or 1% of shares from the top 100 share holders
Only then will they be bought back into reality.
Re:Massive ??? (Score:4, Insightful)
That would be like giving me a Massive fine of $9....
Exactly. Until these fines *start* in the billions of dollars (which would equate to hundreds of dollars for most people), large companies will continue to just factor them into the cost of doing business.
Re: (Score:2)
That's pretty much what the EU did. Most fines aimed at corporations are done in "x% of gross income/profit, with a minimum of Y".
Corporations tend to actually care about that kind of laws. With the ones you have there it's like a billionaire speeding down a highway, knowing that the ticket will be 200 bucks, and when a cop pulls them over, all they essentially do is snap their finger and go "check, please!"
Re: (Score:2)
Corporations tend to actually care about that kind of laws.
Kind of. Microsoft abused its Office monopoly for decades, but they didn't get fined for that at all. They only got fined for failing to produce court-ordered documentation, and the fine was only going forward. They made hundreds upon hundreds of billions (or more) of dollars from their monopoly abuse, and it only cost them a hundred million or so in the end. The fine was insignificant to the actual scale of the damage they did.
Fines for these large companies need to start in the billions, and need to be ca
Re: (Score:2)
The 1960s called, they want their massive fine back!
*laughs in evil*
Facebook "users" (Score:2)
Individuals who, between April 22, 2010, and September 25, 2011, inclusive, were Facebook users in the United States and visited non-Facebook websites that displayed the Facebook Like button, may be eligible for a payment from the settlement fund.
That include all the shadow users (profiles) too?
Google: facebook shadow [google.com]
What Are Facebook Shadow Profiles, and Should You Be Worried? [howtogeek.com]
Re: (Score:3)
Yeah, I thought this was common knowledge. Facebook tracks everybody, whether or not you're a subscriber, whether or not you're logged in. I've never had a FB account, and go to great lengths (browser plugins, HOSTS file, pihole) to block FB, and they probably still track me.
Submitted Claim (Score:1)
Happily you can go submit a claim form online today, and I asks for a reasonably limited set of info so it's pretty quick to fill out. Will be interesting to see how much I get, kind of thinking abut $10 but hey, it's something.
Re: (Score:3)
Does facebook get to keep the info that you fill out, add it to what it knows about you and make even more money ?
Doesn't matter (Score:2)
Does facebook get to keep the info that you fill out, add it to what it knows about you and make even more money ?
A) I think that the legal entity handling claims is the only once seeing this info.
B) To file a claim you need to have had a Facebook account which means Facebook already has WAY more info about you than this form is collecting.
The philosophy at FB is (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
FB? That's how corporations work.
Any fee that is lower than the revenue generated by breaking the associated law is not a fee but part of the "cost of operation" calculation.
Re: (Score:3)
Russia is probably following this same mantra with their war.
Try to steal a whole country, and when West eventually stops them they will only have to give 70% back.
hmmm, wonder about "deactivated" account (Score:3)
Facebook got caught before that time frame violating privacy and I deactivated account, but I still wonder if tracking mechanisms were still going even for deactivated accounts.
Not nearly enough (Score:5, Insightful)
They've made much, much more from their malpractice. They should be forced to pay a fixed fine per day per subject tracked, then "capital gain" fee based on how much they made per record, then standard fines, and then interest on top of everything.
Re: (Score:3)
Imagine trying that next time you're in court "Your honor, I may or may not have killed my wife, but how about me paying a few 100 bucks so I can catch my plane to my honeymoon with the bombshell I just married?"
"massive" (Score:1)
... not!
They should be forced to reimburse the entire Ukrainian war effort.