Facebook may owe you money and now you have the means to collect it.
Facebook's parent company Meta agreed late last year to pay $725 million (opens in a new tab) to settle the Cambridge Analytica data breach class action lawsuit.
The case, now four years old, began after journalists discovered that the political research firm had collected and shared private data on at least 87 million Facebook users and that Facebook had failed to inform the public about the data leak. of the users.
Finally, about six months after the company's founding, around 280 million Facebook members (current and former) could be eligible for a cash payment.
If you've ever done the math, you know that no one gets rich off this deal. Sure, that's nearly a billion dollars out of Meta's pocket, but he may only see a few dollars.
This scandal marks what was perhaps the darkest period in Facebook's history. This is a massive personal data breach that happened not because Cambridge Analytica hacked Facebook, but because Facebook didn't pay much attention to what Cambridge Analytica was doing.
In a 2018 interview, Meta CEO and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg apologized (opens in a new tab) and admitted it was "a huge breach of trust," adding: "We have a fundamental responsibility to protect data of people".
How to collect your Facebook payment
Meta and Facebook have made it easy to collect your fistful of dollars by launching an online claim form (opens in a new tab). You have until August 25, 2023 at 23:59 p.m. PST to complete it.
The only eligibility requirement is that you must have been a member of Facebook between May 24, 2007 and December 22, 2022. Even if you have deleted Facebook, you can still raise funds.
It's true that the amount of information Meta asks for can give you pause, especially given the company's data privacy record. Among the personal information requested are your full name, address, email address, phone number, and payment information.
That last one, which includes credit card, PayPal, Venmo, and Zelle information, is not so you can pay them, but so Meta can get you those few bucks.
You even have to sign a form saying you're not making it up. That's a lot for what could only be €3 or less. On the other hand, if enough people are turned off by Meta's shape, a relatively small number of people might get a bargain of, who knows, €50.