Settlement for all US Facebook users

April 19, 2023 8:25 AM

Judge tentatively OKs $725M Facebook settlement: How to apply for a payout
posted by crazy with stars (57 comments total)

Is this something I’d need to have a Facebook account to understand?
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 8:35 AM on April 19, 2023 [7 favorites]

I actually saw this earlier and tried to apply - but when it got to the point where I had to select a payout method, no matter what I chose, it asked me to enter my email address and then asked me to enter the six-digit code they SWORE they emailed me. That code never came and I couldn't do anything to bypass that.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:39 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

Use Chrome, not Safari, on MacOS.

It may not amount to much per-person, and the lawyers may get a bunch of it, but at least there is some penalty.
posted by wenestvedt at 8:41 AM on April 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

I just submitted a claim. I'm curious what I'll end up getting. Based on other class action suits I've been involved in I expect it will be less than $20.00, though I've been a Facebook member since 2007 or so.
posted by bondcliff at 8:42 AM on April 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

I submitted a claim, and it was accepted.

Because it's Meta, I requested a paper check, and gave them no information about me that they don't already have.
posted by box at 8:42 AM on April 19, 2023 [6 favorites]

Surprised to learn I never actually deleted my Facebook account, I simply stopped logging in 5 years ago. I guess I will be getting 16 cents instead of 13 cents then.
posted by Foosnark at 8:48 AM on April 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

less than $20.00

Given that there are 200 million people in the eligible class I would expect a lot less.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:50 AM on April 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

I got a $397 payout last year from Facebook's violation of my state's biometric privacy law. And from the linked news story, it looks like possibly an addItional $30 on the way. I'll pile onto this one as well.
posted by onehalfjunco at 8:50 AM on April 19, 2023 [8 favorites]

Given that there are 200 million people in the eligible class I would expect a lot less.

I'm bad at math.
posted by bondcliff at 8:53 AM on April 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

I've been on FB since 2008. We'll see how much I get. Maybe a cup of coffee? :)
posted by which_chick at 8:59 AM on April 19, 2023

I'm doing this just to play my part in insuring that meta pays as much of the 725M as possible.
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:00 AM on April 19, 2023 [22 favorites]

Given that there are 200 million people in the eligible class I would expect a lot less.

Honestly I'm not sure exactly how these things work. Does the non-lawyer money get split up evenly among the people who register, or is it allocated to everyone who is eligible and the people who don't register forfeit theirs to a fund somewhere?
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:02 AM on April 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

Good.

Now where's the lawsuit for harvesting and improperly storing and using data on users that never voluntarily made an account, never had an account or were refused when they asked Facebook to delete and stop collecting that data despite never agreeing to their ToS or services?

Also 725 million isn't enough. Meta is currently worth over 500 billion. Should be more like a 150 billion dollar settlement.
posted by loquacious at 9:03 AM on April 19, 2023 [28 favorites]

Does the non-lawyer money get split up evenly among the people who register, or is it allocated to everyone who is eligible and the people who don't register forfeit theirs to a fund somewhere?

From the article, it sounds like the former. The more people who register, the less each person gets. So don't tell your friends!
posted by Roommate at 9:04 AM on April 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

The Federal Trade Commission research here suggests class action claims rates around 9%. So if say only 20 million people of the 200 million class claim (ignoring people with multiple accounts etc.) and a higher end 35% going to legal fees, that would be about $23 each. So yeah not going to make anyone's year.....but probably a couple of coffees depending on how you take them.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 9:05 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

Also the last class action I got an award from I used to buy a remote controlled robot sex toy.

The metaphor and sardonic irony is definitely a feature.
posted by loquacious at 9:06 AM on April 19, 2023 [9 favorites]

There's a tiny note about checks under the other payment options:

"If you prefer to receive a paper check instead of a faster and more convenient option listed above, click this link."
posted by kirkaracha at 9:10 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

Ha - just realized my long deceased dog has a Facebook account. Should I? Ethically no (would be a falsehood on the form I'm guessing / reduces payout fractionally for others etc.). But I really kind of want to.

Submitted for myself and choose a paper check (pretty sure it's not going to have a Meta logo on it - but just for kicks)
posted by inflatablekiwi at 9:13 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

"If you have/had multiple Facebook accounts, please file for the account you had the longest"
posted by kirkaracha at 9:20 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'm in. I doubt I'll get muchh, but I got about $38 from Apple for my laptop's butterfly keyboard, so who knows... (see that double h up there? Butterfly keyboard that missed the warranty deadline. Bastages.)
posted by Mchelly at 9:24 AM on April 19, 2023 [4 favorites]

They are also pro-rating by how long you have had the account.

The Settlement Administrator will assign each Authorized Claimant one point for each month in which the Authorized Claimant had an activated Facebook account during the Class Period.

I've had my account since 2004 so...thats a lot of points I think.
posted by vacapinta at 9:28 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

Time to go post this on Facebook
posted by gottabefunky at 9:34 AM on April 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

I keep getting a 'ReCAPTCHA Failed' message. I hope I'm not a robot.
posted by spilon at 9:37 AM on April 19, 2023 [10 favorites]

I deleted my account in January 2022, but I have no idea of my start date so I left it blank. Also, I didn't see an option for a paper check so selected a prepaid master card.
posted by Scout405 at 9:39 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

I also keep getting the ReCAPTCHA failed message, but there was never one for me to check. Very frustrating.
posted by tangosnail at 9:41 AM on April 19, 2023

The deadline for submitting a claim is August of this year, so no need to do it ASAP.

I imagine as word of this gets around on Facebook there'll be more issues. Many people won't apply because it sounds like a scam. Many people will apply trying to pretend they are in the US. Fake websites will probably pop up too. Such is the nature of these things.
posted by vacapinta at 9:44 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

I am just pleasantly surprised that they didn't require you to get the payment via Meta Pay. (obviously reasons why they couldn't enforce that including people who no longer have accounts - but I wouldn't have put it past them to try and then say some shit like "wow we have over 20m new users of Meta Pay")
posted by inflatablekiwi at 9:53 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

Sadly, I never signed up with Facebook using my real name so I'm not going to bother confirming it with the class action lawsuit now, even if they ashtray know who I actually am.
posted by AlexiaSky at 10:05 AM on April 19, 2023

There's an option to opt out, and seek other legal action as well.
posted by Chuffy at 10:09 AM on April 19, 2023

Thanks for the heads up they definitely owe me something for the time wasted with their garbage company
posted by tiny frying pan at 10:13 AM on April 19, 2023

I'm hopeful that all of the other Facebook users are too overwhelmed with life to register and that the entirety of the $725 million will be mine.
posted by vverse23 at 10:20 AM on April 19, 2023 [8 favorites]

I closed my account in 2012 - Facebook would have to pay me a lot more than $23 to be on their platform since.
posted by meowzilla at 10:24 AM on April 19, 2023

I've had my account since 2004 so...thats a lot of points I think.

Alas, the farthest back you can claim is the beginning of the "class period" - I tried to enter the date I joined and it doesn't let you.
posted by misskaz at 10:37 AM on April 19, 2023

Metafilter: I hope I'm not a robot.
posted by riverlife at 10:38 AM on April 19, 2023 [7 favorites]

I signed up for direct deposit, then remembered that my credit union is really picky about how my name is presented in order for that to work (full name plus suffix or they reject). I didn't see any way to change it afterward, so I probably won't be getting that 20 cents or whatever, anyway.
posted by dirigibleman at 10:59 AM on April 19, 2023

I didn’t close my account, I just logged out and never logged back in again. Until today, because I couldn’t remember what my user name was - logged in long enough to look that up then immediately logged out again. Didn’t even glance at the feed.

Paper check option here as well, because I’m sure it will cost the bastards more than a digital payment would.
posted by caution live frogs at 11:43 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

The self-schadenfreude is really that to get the cash for privacy violation settlement, one needs to enter in a bunch of personal information into a site that I can't tell is legit or not, but rage, rage against the dying of the light.
posted by alex_skazat at 1:10 PM on April 19, 2023 [5 favorites]

Paper check option here as well, because I’m sure it will cost the bastards more than a digital payment would.

I'm sure the administration costs of distributing funds will come out of the award (so a check that costs a few cents to send will minutely reduce the $725m award administered by the legal firm who ran the class settlement) - but I also got the check just for kicks.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 1:11 PM on April 19, 2023

Use Chrome, not Safari, on MacOS.

You misspelled "Firefox, using Facebook Container".
posted by foldedfish at 1:23 PM on April 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

I submitted claims for all of you folks, I'll distribute the money...eventually. Minus expenses and administration costs.
posted by maxwelton at 2:36 PM on April 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

To opt out, post the following text to your wall... ;P
posted by advicepig at 2:36 PM on April 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

It may not be clear to people, based on the comments:

The settlement dispersal is run by the plaintiffs, not the defendants.
posted by constraint at 2:50 PM on April 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

We'll see how much I get. Maybe a cup of coffee? :)

It might be 7/11, but sure won't be Starbucks.
posted by BlueHorse at 3:36 PM on April 19, 2023

...even if they ashtray know who I actually am.

Butt... Butt... what if they astutely don't?
posted by y2karl at 4:02 PM on April 19, 2023

I never gave Facebook any information besides my name and email. They were always popping up these cloying messages, "Did you go to school in...Ohio?" "Is your current address in North Carolina?" I don't know if they gave up or stopped because they think they figured all that stuff out, but it would be pretty ironic if they finally got my actual mailing address from this.
posted by straight at 4:44 PM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

If only Facebook's owner and primary shareholder could be made personally responsible for all the people he helped murder in autocratic regimes that his company assisted. The victims' families deserve to be cut a check, I think, however nominal.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 5:40 PM on April 19, 2023 [6 favorites]

I signed up pretty easily and chose Venmo. We'll see if much happens.

I have, oddly enough, received two class settlements in the last wo days, one from my previous bank for $12 and two from AT&T. I share the latter account with my daughter, so one of the checks was addressed to me; the other ran both of our names together; together they totalled about $11. I deposited both to my account, which seems to have accepted it.
posted by etaoin at 8:56 PM on April 19, 2023

Pay to the order of... Mrs. Wilbur Starks... One dollar AND NINE CENTS!
posted by Earthtopus at 9:41 PM on April 19, 2023 [4 favorites]

Because it's Meta, I requested a paper check, and gave them no information about me that they don't already have.

Class actions are not paid out by the plaintiff directly. They payouts are handled by the lawyers who filed and won the class action suit. So meta won't get any of the info from the payout regardless of what you put in.
posted by srboisvert at 3:33 AM on April 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

Also the last class action I got an award from I used to buy a remote controlled robot sex toy.

There was a class action for a Canadian robotic sex toy that spied on people! Try to keep up!
posted by srboisvert at 3:36 AM on April 20, 2023 [2 favorites]

Pay to the order of... Mrs. Wilbur Starks... One dollar AND NINE CENTS!

I had a moment like this working for an insurance broker who had to refund a few bucks per customer who paid a fee they shouldn't have, I had to print the 5000 checks on the big Okidata, but Michelle was the one who had to SIGN them all by hand.
posted by mikelieman at 6:03 AM on April 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

Looks like I've been a member since January 2009. I might get TWO coins to rub together!
posted by Fleebnork at 6:29 AM on April 20, 2023 [2 favorites]

Y'all, just to clarify that if you are STILL a member you can skip the part that asks for the date you joined.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:30 AM on April 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

Find your Facebook account creation date.

Look at that...I joined Metafilter before I joined Facebook (not by a lot, but a few months at least). I would have guessed the other way around. I await my Metafilter settlement with keen interest, and an appetite for payment in croutons.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 7:17 AM on April 20, 2023

> it would be pretty ironic if they finally got my actual mailing address from this

I clicked the paper check option out of curiosity, then realized I didn't want to give them my street address so tried to change it but it wouldn't let me, then saw that they already had my street address. I don't remember ever giving it to them. Ah well.
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:47 AM on April 20, 2023

Clicking the paper check link did nothing but freeze the form for me.
posted by Gelatin at 12:21 PM on April 24, 2023

...no, it just took a long time for a pop-up confirmation to display. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by Gelatin at 12:26 PM on April 24, 2023