The Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal settlement came in the form of a historic settlement where millions of Facebook users are finally getting paid as a result of the years-long lawsuit. The settlement, which was first declared in December 2022, eliminates claims that Facebook permitted third parties to get unauthorized access to user information. Even though this was announced several years ago, its payouts were postponed by appeals, which were finally settled in May 2025. Settlement will now be paid in installments and will be paid through the 10 weeks beginning in September 2025.
| Eligibility Period | May 24, 2007 – Dec 22, 2022 |
|---|---|
| Claim Filing Deadline | August 25, 2023 |
| Valid Claims Received | ~19 million |
| Maximum Payment Approximate | $38 |
| Minimum Payment Approximate | $4.89 |
The settlement is based on the news in 2018 that personal information belonging to about 87 million Facebook users was maliciously obtained by the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica in the 2016 election in the U.S. The mother company of Facebook, which is known as Meta, was sued by individuals who claimed that the company was not doing enough to prevent the privacy of its users and this was allowing third parties like developers, advertisers, and data brokers to access sensitive information. Even though Meta denied any wrongdoing, it accepted the settlement to save the time and money and to avoid trial.
WH2 is Eligible and Calculation of Payments.
It was also eligible to Facebook users in the United States who at some point between May 24, 2007 and December 22, 2022, had an active account and who had submitted a claim before the August 2023 deadline. Approximately, 29 million individuals claimed and out of this, about 19 million have been payment processed. Taking into consideration a point system, settlements are determined according to the number of months of active use throughout the given period, in which one point is equivalent to one month. Long term users are therefore paid more, the highest payment is approximately 38 and minimum is approximately less than 5.
Distribution of Payments
Payments will begin to be disbursed in batches in September 2025, and claimants will be notified by email as many as four days prior to receiving money. The digital payments being made by the settlement administrator, Angeion Group, include direct deposit and prepaid digital Mastercards. This is an appropriate approach to most people because 94% of recipients indicated that they prefer electronic payments instead of paper checks. Although most of them were rolled out seamlessly, a few legal cases were filed against the settlement administrators regarding purported revenue-sharing arrangements regarding payment card issuers.
Significance of the Settlement.
The settlements per person are not massive but the payment is an indication that there is a major turning point in the accountability of digital privacy. It draws attention to the fact that the problem of individual data safety on social media still needs to be considered more carefully and urges businesses to implement more stringent privacy measures. Facebook settlement is a reminder to the user to frequently check the privacy settings and to know how their information is handled on the internet.
Instructions and claim forms Claimants and non-filers In order to obtain a refund of interest or tax, claimants and non-filers must submit their claims, along with supporting documents, to the Board of Excise and Taxation.
Users that have made claims and were approved should monitor their email to see the progress in receiving payments and also make sure that their banking or payment details are up to date. Individuals that fail to meet the deadline of claims are, however, not eligible to claim compensation but will gain increased awareness and safeguards concerning the practice of digital privacy. The importance of an aggressive user involvement in terms of data protection is highlighted in this case.
FAQs
Q1: When can I get paid?
The payments will be made between September through 2025 and take about 10 weeks to be sent in installations to the approved claimants.
Q2: Who could have made a claim?
All users of Facebook in the United States, who had active accounts May 24, 2007, to December 22, 2022, and filed a claim by the August 2023 deadline.
Q3: What is the amount of payment?
A points system in which active use of the Facebook platform in a month of the eligibility period counts as a point. Long account pay means the bigger the payment.
