The Facebook settlement payout date still hasn’t been confirmed, but payments are expected to begin in early May or June. The settlement was approved by the U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria on October 10 and payments were supposed to start rolling in 90 days after the approval, which translates to late January or early February.
A quick Google search tells us that most people have not received their payouts yet and that might be because it’s one of the largest settlements in history, involving 28 million people. To put things in perspective, the previous Facebook settlement in Illinois involved 5 to 6 million people and took almost two years after the claim deadline to start paying out compensation.
Here are more important details about the 2023 Facebook settlement.
| Facebook Settlement Payout Information | |
|---|---|
|
Eligible country |
USA |
|
Total settlement fund |
$725 million |
|
Claims deadline date |
25th August, 2023 |
|
Estimated date of payout |
Late May or early June, though the exact date is still unclear |
|
Official site |
|
Table of Contents
Is There a Concrete Facebook Settlement Payout Date in 2024?
Unfortunately, no, there isn’t a concrete Facebook lawsuit payout date. According to the judge’s order, the “estimated date” of when the money will start being distributed is 90 days after the approval. Below, we have added a table which was included in the judge’s order, which shows some important dates regarding the settlement:
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
|
Claims deadline |
25th August, 2023 |
|
Estimated date of payout |
90 days after the judge’s approval |
|
Estimated date of “substantial completion of distribution” |
165 days after the approval |
As you can tell, the completion of the money distribution was slated to occur 165 days post-approval (which means sometime in March). However, because of the large number of claimants, that hasn’t been possible.
How Can I Check the Status of My Facebook Settlement Amount?
If you want to stay updated with the settlement, we recommend bookmarking the “Facebook User Privacy Settlement” site. Here are step-by-step details on how you can check the status of your claim:
- On the site, click on Submit Claim.
- Type in your “Claim ID” and “Confirmation Code” and hit the Submit button.
- You’ll immediately see the status of your Facebook settlement payout on the site.
If you want an even more immediate answer, then you could call the settlement administrator at 1-855-556-2233 or send them an email at [email protected].
You can also mail them at the following address:
Facebook Consumer Privacy User Profile Litigation
c/o Settlement Administrator
1650 Arch Street, Suite 2210
Philadelphia, PA19103
How Much Will I Get From the Facebook Settlement?
Expect to get $30-$40, but the exact amount may vary. The total amount is $725 million. Considering there are about 28 million claimants (around 500,000 of the applications have been rejected), the Facebook user privacy settlement amount per person should be around $25-$30.
First, the total amount of money available for distribution, called the Settlement Fund, will have certain expenses subtracted from it, such as Administrative Costs, fees for Class Counsel, and Service Awards for Settlement Class Representatives.
What’s left after subtracting these expenses is called the “Net Settlement Fund.” This is the amount of money that’s actually available to be given out to people involved in the settlement.
Then, the Net Settlement Fund will be divided among people who qualify to receive it, known as “Authorized Claimants.” Each Authorized Claimant will get points based on how many months they had an active Facebook account during the Class Period.
The Settlement Administrator will total the points assigned to all Authorized Claimants and then divide the Net Settlement Fund by that sum. This division gives the amount available for each point. Each Authorized Claimant will then receive this per-point amount multiplied by the number of points they were assigned.
Note that it will also depend on how long you have been using Facebook.
The money will be sent to the payment method you indicated on your claims application. People were given the choice of Venmo, prepaid Mastercard, PayPal, Zelle, or a physical check.
What Is the Facebook Lawsuit About?
The lawsuit centers on accusations that Facebook didn’t sufficiently protect user data, shared information about users’ friends without consent, and failed to monitor third-party access to that data properly.
All users who had been members of the social media platform between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022 were eligible to make a claim. Even if you deleted or deactivated your Facebook account during or after this time period, you are still eligible to receive compensation.
Note that this settlement isn’t the same as the Illinois one, which was about Facebook breaking the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) with its facial recognition tech. The claim filing deadline for that settlement was November 23, 2020, and it wasn’t until May 2022 that most people began receiving their compensation.
If that’s any indication of how long these processes can take, then it’s reasonable to expect similar delays in the payout for the new settlement. Most people received around $390 from the previous one, but, as mentioned above, it involved a smaller number of people, around 5 to 6 million.
Have You Received Your Money Yet?
It’s clear that many people are still waiting on their Facebook settlement payouts. It’s taking a bit longer than expected, but hang tight! Keep an eye out for updates from the settlement administrator and check the Facebook User Privacy Settlement site on a regular basis.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Facebook settlement addresses allegations that the social media giant mishandled user data, shared information without consent, and failed to monitor third-party access to data properly. It established a settlement fund of $725 million to compensate eligible claimants.
The Facebook settlement amount was supposed to be released 90 days after the judge’s approval, but people have still not received anything. The reason why it’s taking so much time is because there are simply too many claimants (around 28 million).
While filling out the claims application, you had the option to choose to receive your payout via Venmo, prepaid Mastercard, PayPal, Zelle, or a physical check.
You should expect to receive between $30-$40, but the exact amount may vary as it depends on how long you had been using Facebook during the “Class Period.” The total settlement amount is $725 million, which is to be divided among approximately 28 million claimants.
The payout date is uncertain, but it’s expected to start coming in early May or June. Originally, payments were supposed to start around 90 days after judicial approval, but that hasn’t been possible because of the large number of claimants.
