500,000 People Excluded From $725 Million Facebook Settlement–See If You Qualify

A person watches on a smartphone Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiling the META logo in Los Angeles on Oct. 28, 2021. (Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images)

Around 500,000 people have been rejected for what they thought was their share of a $725 million class-action settlement of a lawsuit that claimed Facebook parent Meta violated their privacy—though some of those denied may still be eligible to collect the money, according to a report.

Many Facebook users—likely the majority of users in the United States—were eligible to apply for a portion of the enormous settlement.

“If you were a Facebook user in the United States between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022, inclusive, you may be eligible for a cash payment” from the class-action settlement, the settlement website states.

Such users, which probably cover the vast majority of American Facebook users who still have an account on the social media platform, were given until Aug. 25, 2023, to submit a claim form.

Angeion, the company that is administering the $725 million settlement fund, told Nexstar that it had received some 28 million claims—and that it had rejected around 500,000 of them, some due to fraud.

The company has yet to finish processing around 11 million claims, meaning the number of people who get rejection letters is likely to grow.

However, all hope is not lost for those whose claims have been rejected.

An Angeion representative told Nexstar that some of the rejections may be due to error—and that getting a share of the money may still be possible.

What To Do If You Get a Rejection Letter?

Some rejected applications were correctly flagged as fraudulent—but not all.

An Angeion representative told Nexstar that some people’s claims were denied because the Facebook username that they provided on the application didn’t match the one that Facebook has on file.

Other reasons why an application got rejected include providing an email or phone number that didn’t match what Facebook has on file for that particular user.

People whose claims were denied were sent an email from a “Facebook Consumer Privacy Settlement Administrator,” telling them that they had been rejected, per the report.

Spotting the email and taking timely action are key as people only have 10 days from the date of receiving the email to appeal the unfavorable decision.

In order to appeal a rejection, an online form needs to be filled out, per the instructions in the email. The form allows the applicant’s information on file to be corrected or clarified.

Why Did Facebook Agree to Pay?

The case and resulting settlement originated from 2018 reports revealing that Cambridge Analytica paid a Facebook app developer for access to the personal information of approximately 87 million Facebook users.

This data was allegedly used to target U.S. voters during the 2016 campaign.

In August of the following year, a temporary settlement agreement was reached shortly before the Sept. 20 deadline for Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg to undergo depositions.

Despite denying the lawsuit’s allegations, Facebook parent company Meta said last year that it pursued the settlement in the best interest of its community and shareholders.

“Over the last three years we revamped our approach to privacy and implemented a comprehensive privacy program,” said spokesperson Dina El-Kassaby Luce. “We look forward to continuing to build services people love and trust with privacy at the forefront.”

Who Was Eligible to Get Part of the Settlement?

People who were eligible to apply for a portion of the $725 million settlement must have lived in the United States between May 24, 2007, and Dec. 22, 2022.

This means that residents of other countries—such as Australia, Canada, or the United Kingdom—were ineligible. There were also other exclusions to the settlement class: directors, officers, legal representatives, alleged co-conspirators, and agents of the defendant or its subsidiaries, along with employees of Meta or its subsidiaries.

The number of Facebook users who could be eligible ranges from between 250 million to 280 million, according to court papers.

When Can You Receive the Money and How Much?

A final approval hearing for the settlement took place on Sept. 7, 2023.

This was followed by an Oct. 10, 2023 final judgment issued by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, which also granted two orders—one granted a motion for final approval of the settlement and the second ordered attorneys’ fees, costs, and service awards.

However, despite the fact that the court granted both motions, several plaintiffs filed objections on Nov. 9, 2023.

Since settlement payments cannot be distributed to eligible recipients until the appeals are resolved, the timeline for the payout remains unclear.

“The time frame for resolving an appeal can vary widely, and we will know more as the appeals proceed,” reads a notice on the settlement website.

The lawsuit is known as In re: Facebook, Inc. Consumer Privacy User Profile Litigation, Case No. 3:18-md-02843-VC (N.D. Cal.).

Facebook parent Meta has denied that it broke the law.

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.