Illinois Facebook Users: 1 Month Left To File A Settlement Claim

By most standards, the $725 million Facebook class action lawsuit settlement announced earlier this year is a massive amount of money, and if you want to get a piece of the action (assuming that you fit the criteria), you only have until August 25th to get your claim filed.

If you're wondering what prompted this class action suit and huge settlement, you might be surprised to know that this particular settlement isn't about a Facebook violation of Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), and the payout isn't limited to Illinois only.

The parent company of Facebook, Meta, agreed to pay the sum of $750 million to settle claims it allowed people’s personal data to be shared with third parties all over the country.

This Lawsuit And Settlement Are Different Than The Lawsuit And $650 Million Settlement Reached Last Year Here In Illinois

If you recall, over 1 million Illinois residents who were eligible and had filed a claim against Facebook for violating Illinois' BIPA law ended up getting just under $400 each. The current lawsuit settlement is $100 million more than last year, but more people are also eligible to receive payment.

FacebookUserPrivacySettlement.com:

• A Settlement has been reached between Defendant Facebook, Inc., now known as Meta Platforms, Inc., (“Meta” or “Defendant”) and Plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
• You are included in this Settlement as a Settlement Class Member if you were a Facebook user in the United States between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022, inclusive.
• The lawsuit is known as In re: Facebook, Inc. Consumer Privacy User Profile Litigation, Case No. 3:18-md-02843-VC (N.D. Cal.). Defendant denies that it violated any law.
• Your rights are affected whether you act or don’t act. Please read the Notice carefully.

The Deadline To File Your Claim Is August 25th, And If You're Planning To File By Mail, Make Sure It's Postmarked By That Date. For Those Planning To File Online, It Needs To Be Done By 11:59pm On The Night Of August 25th

Let's make it a little easier for you. To file a claim online, click here. If you're wondering when the payout will be coming, you shouldn't have too terribly long to wait, according to TheHill.com:

After the claim deadline on Aug. 25, there is still a final settlement hearing, which is scheduled for Sept. 7, 2023 at 1 p.m. Pacific Time. It’s not clear the exact date payments will be issued, but the soonest they could be sent out is after the September court date.

You're also probably wondering what the payout amount will be, but that really can't be determined until after the final settlement hearing. Speculation is that the money (per person) could be in the high 3-figures, or it could also be less than $100.