(NEXSTAR) – After years of waiting, the payouts from a $725 million class action lawsuit against Facebook have begun to be distributed, according to the company overseeing the process.
The social media behemoth consented to compensate millions of users directly to resolve accusations that it breached privacy by sharing user data with third parties. Even though the settlement received final approval in 2023, distribution faced delays due to objections and appeals.
The end of the wait is in sight. Angeion, responsible for administering the settlement, initially mentioned that payments would start in August, and it has now confirmed that distribution commenced on Wednesday, Sept. 3.
Some of the 28 million people who filed claims have started to receive emails that their claim had been approved and payment was coming soon.
If you didn’t receive notice, there’s no need to panic yet. Payments are expected to be issued in batches over the next 10 weeks.
How big will the Facebook settlement payments be per person?
Before diving into calculations, let’s clarify: this class action lawsuit won’t make anyone a millionaire, except perhaps the lawyers involved in the case, who are receiving $181 million.
Despite the fund’s significant size, a large number of individuals filed claims. Two years ago, Angeion confirmed validating at least 17 million of the 28 million claims filed. Consequently, the settlement fund will be shared among at least 17 million people.
After covering legal and administrative costs, the remainder is being allocated among the validated claimants. However, the division isn’t equal. A point system assigns points based on each month a user had a Facebook account from May 2007 to December 2022. The more points accumulated, the larger the payment received.
That makes it hard to say exactly how much any individual will get, but lawyers said in 2023 they estimated the median payment to be $30.
Eight members of the settlement class – the named plaintiffs who represented all Facebook users in the case – will get $15,000 each.
