Here’s how much the Facebook privacy class action settlement payouts could be

Facebook privacy settlement payouts overview: 

• Who: More than 17.7 million people submitted valid claims in the Facebook data privacy settlement.   
• Why: The $725 million settlement puts an end to claims that Meta — formerly known as Facebook — shared about 87 million Facebook users’ information with a third-party app developer, who in turn sold the data to Cambridge Analytica.
• Where: Nationwide.

In an eventful final approval hearing, a California judge said he was “blown away” by the 17.7 million claims filed in a $725 million Facebook privacy class action lawsuit settlement. 

Lawyers for the plaintiffs told U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria that more than 17.7 million valid claims have been filed in the Facebook data privacy settlement — with several million more still needing to be processed. 

According to plaintiff lawyers, each claimant can expect to receive around $30, based on the number of claims that have been filed. Judge Chhabria noted this amount is lower than expected but can be attributed to the unprecedented number of claims filed in the case.

“It’s because such an incredibly large number of people made claims in this case,” the judge said. “I was kind of blown away by how many people made claims.”

Facebook users had until Aug. 25, 2023, to file a claim in the Facebook class action lawsuit settlement; more than 28.6 million claims were filed. However, around 2 million of these claims are duplicates, while 8 million may be fraudulent. Even after these deductions, 17.7 million filed claims is a significant number.

Although the $725 million Facebook deal has attracted widespread media attention and millions of claims, not everyone is satisfied with the settlement. Objectors in the case claim the settlement total is too small based on the number of affected users and that the criteria for payouts laid out in the settlement agreement are unfair. 

These objectors were each given two minutes to argue their cases to Judge Chhabria during the final approval hearing. Plaintiffs’ lawyers hit back against their arguments, saying the objectors ignore the significant risk of litigation when calculating the potential statutory reward of going to trial. 

Class lawyers in the Facebook class action lawsuit need to tell Judge Chhabria the total they will seek in attorneys’ fees from the settlement — a sum that was left out in their motion for attorneys’ fees. 

“We’re just not good at math,” one lawyer joked, calling the issue an “oversight” but stating that a 25% cut of the settlement would amount to almost $180.5 million. 

The $725 million settlement puts an end to claims that Meta — formerly known as Facebook — shared the information of around 87 million Facebook users with a third-party app developer who then sold their information to Cambridge Analytica. Cambridge Analytica is a UK-based political consulting firm known for its role in former President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign. The firm filed for bankruptcy shortly after the Facebook data-sharing scandal was revealed.

Did you submit a claim in the Facebook privacy settlement? Let us know in the comments below.

The settlement class is represented by Lesley E. Weaver, Anne K. Davis, Matthew S. Melamed and Joshua D. Samra of Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP, and Derek W. Loeser, Cari Campen Laufenberg, David Ko, Adele A. Daniel, Benjamin Gould, Emma M. Wright, Daniel Mensher, Michael Woerner, Matthew Gerend, Christopher Springer and Eric Fierro of Keller Rohrback LLP.

The Facebook privacy class action lawsuit is In re: Facebook Inc. Consumer Privacy User Profile Litigation, Case No. 3:18-md-02843, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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