(Nexstar) – After several years of speculation, class action payments totaling $725 million against Facebook have finally begun to be distributed, according to the company overseeing the process.
The social media platform is said to have breached user privacy by agreeing to compensate millions of individuals and sharing their data with outside parties. Although the settlement received final approval in 2023, payment distributions faced delays due to opposition and appeals.
However, the wait seems to be coming to an end. Angeion, the company managing the settlement, initially indicated that payments would start in August but has now confirmed that disbursements commenced on Wednesday, September 3rd.
Some of the 28 million individuals who submitted claims have begun getting emails indicating that their claims are approved and that payments are forthcoming.
If you haven’t received any notifications, don’t worry just yet. Payments are anticipated to be released in batches over the next ten weeks.
What about the individual payments from Facebook?
Before diving into any calculations, it’s important to note that this class action lawsuit isn’t going to make anyone a millionaire—unless, of course, you’re one of the lawyers involved, who have collectively earned $181 million.
The settlement fund is indeed substantial, but the number of claims filed is also very high. Two years ago, Angeion revealed that over 17 million of the 28 million claims submitted had already been verified, meaning the settlement amount must be divided amongst at least that many people.
After accounting for legal and administrative expenses, the funds that remain will be shared among verified claimants. However, this distribution isn’t equal. A points system has been implemented, awarding one point for each month users held a Facebook account between May 2007 and December 2022. The more points amassed, the larger the payment one might receive.
So it’s tricky to pinpoint exactly how much each person will get, but one lawyer speculated that the median payment in 2023 would be around $30.
Interestingly, eight representative members of the settlement class, who symbolize all Facebook users in this case, are each set to receive $15,000.
