Meta Resolved Cambridge Analytica Scandal Case for $725 Million

Meta Platforms has agreed to pay $725 million to settle a long-running lawsuit alleging that Facebook illegally shared user data with research firm Cambridge Analytica. Plaintiffs said in a court filing late Thursday that it was "the largest recovery ever obtained in a data privacy class action and the highest amount Facebook has ever paid to settle a private class action.". The deal brings Meta one step closer to settling a 2018 lawsuit brought by Facebook users after it emerged that a UK research firm linked to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign had gained access to the data of some 87 million subscribers to the social media network.

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How did the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica Data Scandal unfold?

The settlement requires the approval of a federal judge overseeing the case. Consumers' lawyers have consistently had an advantage in spying on the company's internal records to support their claims that Facebook failed to protect their personal data. Facebook's parent company could have been forced to pay hundreds of millions of dollars more if it had gone to court and lost the case. Meta said in an emailed statement,

Since the lawsuit was filed, Facebook has stopped allowing third parties to access data about users through their friends, the plaintiffs said in a court filing detailing the settlement. The company also strengthened its ability to restrict and monitor how third parties obtain and use Facebook users' information, according to the filing. It has also improved the way it tells users what information Facebook collects and shares about them.

Last month, Google agreed to pay a total of $391.5 million to 40 US states to settle an investigation into its controversial location tracking practices in what state officials called the largest such privacy settlement in US history. Separately, a judge last month approved a $90 million Meta settlement to settle a lawsuit over the use of browser cookies and Facebook's "Like" button to track user activity.

In a court filing in August, Meta said it had agreed to settle the Cambridge Analytica case, but no terms were disclosed at the time. A filing a month earlier showed that Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg would have to be questioned for up to six hours by plaintiffs' lawyers. The same filing showed that former COO Sheryl Sandberg would also have to testify. Facebook has claimed that it discloses its practices in user agreements. It also said that anyone who shares their information on a social network should not trust their privacy.