One of the biggest Facebook settlements of $725 million payout to the valid claimants is delayed due to legal proceedings of appeal filed on the class action settlement. Facebook users who filed for the claim before the deadline of 26 July 2023 now await the settlement payout after the delay.
The court approved the Facebook User Privacy class action settlement last year on 01 Oct 2023. The class members who have filed for the compensation can check out the expected payout dates here.
Facebook Settlement Payout Update
The Facebook User privacy class action settlement was resolved last year where the plaintiff alleges the platform shared or made some information accessible to the third parties app, advertisers, developers, and other parties for users or their friends without the authorization of the users.
Now, it has been a year that the class members have been waiting for the compensation but due to a legal appeal, the administrator has to halt all the compensation proceedings till it is resolved. As per reports, there were two appeals filed against the Facebook user privacy settlement.
The hearing date of the settlement appeal is scheduled for 7 Feb 2025, so the class members have to wait longer for the compensation. Generally, it takes months to solve the legal appeals so Facebook settlement class members can expect the payment in 2025 or by the end of 2025 as after resolving the appeal it may take time for the administrator to distribute the compensation.
Facebook Settlement Payout Amount
The Facebook user privacy settlement offers a $725 million settlement fund to compensate the valid claimants. The fund will be first used to cover the following expenses before distributing it among the other class members:
- Administrative costs for notice and settle the payment,
- Service Awards for the class representative to bring the case
- Attorney fees and costs
After the settlement administrator deducts the following expenses from the settlement fund to determine the Net Settlement Fund, which will be used to compensate the class members with valid claims.
The settlement payout for each class member who has approved the claim will be decided based on the following factors:
- The administrator will have each point for the month they have used Facebook during the class period.
- Number of active claims
The administrator will multiply the pre-point assigned to the valid claimants with the number of points they get for being a Facebook user during the class period to estimate the payout for approved claimants.
Hence, the points of the month you have used Facebook during the class period will determine your payout, so it may vary from person to person. According to many reports, each person can expect an average payout of $30 to $35 in the Facebook User Privacy settlement.
Who will receive the Facebook settlement Payout?
US people who meet the following eligibility conditions of the Facebook user privacy settlement will receive the upcoming payout:
- You are a Facebook user living in the United States during the class period of 24 May 2007 and 22 December 2022.
- You have filed the claim before the deadline of 28 July 2023 with valid details.
Exclusion:
- People who are officers, directors, legal representatives, or alleged conspirators of Facebook will be excluded from the settlement.
- The discovery mediator, special master, and mediator involved in the lawsuit would be excluded from the settlement;
- The judge involved in the case and the judge’s staff will be excluded from the settlement.
- People whose case was merged in this MDL and their staff but they were restricted to Plaintiffs counsel and employees are excluded from the settlement.
As per the reports, around 28 million people have submitted the claims and around 17 million have received the preliminary validation of filing the valid claim.
How will you receive the Facebook Settlement payout?
The Facebook User Privacy settlement class members will receive the payout through the payment method they selected while claiming the compensation. As per the claim form, the class members have the following payment options:
- Prepaid Mastercard will be sent to approved claimants through their email addresses to the Mastercard;
- PayPal
- Venmo
- Zelle
- Physical Check
The electronic method payment will be done earlier, whereas the claimants who have selected the physical check as their payment method will receive the payment in 90 to 180 days depending on their mailing address.
The claimants who have changed their email address, mobile number, and mailing address should immediately inform the settlement administrator to ensure they do not miss their compensation and receive it timely when the appeal is resolved and the administrator begins the distribution.
How can you check the Facebook Settlement claim status?
The class members who have filed for the Facebook Settlement should know their claim status online through the following steps:
- The class members can visit the official Facebook settlement website at https://facebookuserprivacysettlement.com/
- Next, you should click on the submit claim option and enter your Claim ID and confirmation status that you may have received when you filed the online claim or through the notice.
- Once you submit those details, your Facebook Settlement claim status will be shown on your screen and you will know if it is approved or not.
If you wish to edit your claim or have any doubts or questions about the settlement you can write an email to the settlement administrator at [email protected] or call at toll-free number 1 855 556 2233.
The Facebook User Privacy settlement appeal hearing date is out, as per the latest update, the final hearing will be held on 07 Feb 2025, so claimants who were waiting for the settlement payout should keep an eye on the official website to stay updated on the settlement activities.