By : thoughtfulnews.com

Updated At : 12/25/2022

Meta :

Facebook owner Meta has agreed to pay $725m (£600m) to settle legal action over a data breach linked to political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.

In a long-running controversy, the social media giant has been accused of allowing third parties, including a British company, to access Facebook users’ personal information.
The proposed amount is the largest in a U.S. privacy class action lawsuit, according to attorneys.

Meta, which has denied wrongdoing, said it has “corrected” its approach to privacy over the past three years.

In a statement, the company said the settlement was “in the best interests of our community and our shareholders.”

“We look forward to continuing to build a service that people love and trust while keeping privacy a top priority.”

Tech writer James Ball told his it was “not surprising” that Meta had to agree to pay so much. But not “that much” for the tech giant. Said there wasn’t. “That’s less than a tenth of what we spent to create the Metaverse last year alone,” he said.

“Meta probably isn’t too bummed about the deal. But it’s a warning to social media companies that mistakes can be very costly.”
The proposed settlement, which was filed in court late Thursday, is subject to approval by a federal judge in San Francisco.

Derek Roser :

Derek Roser and Leslie Weaver, the plaintiffs’ lead attorneys, said in a statement. “This historic settlement will provide the class with significant relief in this complex and novel privacy lawsuit.

• Facebook scandal ‘impacted 87 million users’
• Facebook agrees to pay fines to Cambridge Analytica
• Facebook sues over ‘out of control’ of user data

According to the decision document, the size of the class will be “in the range of 250 million to 280 million people” and all U.S. Represents a Facebook user.
It is not clear how plaintiffs will assert their role in the settlement.

Janis Wong, a privacy and ethics researcher at the Alan Turing Institute, said that if one person decided to make a claim, it would only cost her $2 to $3 per person.

Another settlement hearing she has scheduled for March 2, 2023. “While this $725 million settlement does not apply to UK users, earlier this year competition law experts filed dozens of complaints against Meta over misuse of user data covering the period of Cambridge Analytica. filed a billion-dollar class action lawsuit.

“We should hear more from the UK Competition Court of Appeals in the New Year on this,” she told the thoughtfulnews.com.