Here’s how to get settlement money if you’ve used Facebook in the last 16 years

Hanna Seariac
·2 min read
3
The Facebook logo.
The Facebook logo. | Michael Dwyer, Associated Press

Due to a $725 million settlement by a parent company of Meta, if you’ve used Facebook in the last 16 years, read on.

Here’s details on the settlement, the terms of the Facebook settlement and how to file out a form to potentially receive settlement funds.

Is there a Facebook settlement?

The settlement is in conjunction with privacy violation lawsuits. CBS News reported, “The settlement stems from multiple lawsuits that were brought against Facebook by users who claimed that the company improperly shared their data with third-party sources such as advertisers and data brokers.”

Meta did not say it engaged in wrongdoing, according to CNBC. A spokesperson for the company said it was acting in the community’s and shareholder’s best interests.

So if you’ve used Facebook between May 24, 2007, and Dec. 22, 2022, you have until Aug. 25, 2023 to file a claim.

Here’s how to file a Facebook settlement claim

  1. Visit this website which contains the form for claiming the settlement.

  2. You’ll need to fill out your first name, last name, address (city, state, zip code and country), email address and phone number.

  3. Then you’ll need to answer whether or not you resided in the U.S. during May 24, 2007, and Dec. 22, 2022, and were a Facebook user. If you’ve since deleted your Facebook, you’ll need to provide the date of your Facebook usage.

  4. For your Facebook account, you’ll need to add your email, phone number and username associated with your account.

What is my Facebook username?

To navigate to your username, click on your Facebook profile picture and then look at your URL. It’ll read something like www.facebook.com/janedoe. In that case, ‘janedoe’ would be your username.

Facebook settlement: amount per person

It’s unknown. According to Mashable, the amount per person will depend on how many people fill out the claim form.

NBC Chicago 5 also reported, “Each eligible claimant will be assigned “one point for each month” they had an activated Facebook account during that window. Once the total number of claimants and their points have been determined, along with the total settlement fund amount, each person will then receive a designated amount, multiplied by their total number of points.”