Meta again settles privacy case

Several international media, including The Guardian (1) and CNN (2), write about it.

Zuckerberg was about to be interrogated

The settlement proposal relates to Facebook's part in the Cambridge Analytica scandal (3). The British company collected personal data from over 87 million American Facebook users in 2014 without asking for consent. Then-presidential candidate Donald Trump used this data in the 2016 presidential election to offer targeted ads and commercials.

For these practices, Facebook was taken to task by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in July 2019. At the time, the regulator handed out a $5 billion fine for this violation. It blamed Facebook for failing to protect users' privacy (4) and personal data. Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, was exonerated by the FTC.

For Attorney General Karl Racine, that was not the end of the matter. He has more than once described the Cambridge Analytica incident as "the biggest privacy scandal for (5) consumers in the history of the country." He wanted to hold Zuckerberg personally accountable for the events. The top executive's hearing was scheduled for September. Former COO Sheryl Sandberg and current COO Javier Olivan would also be heard on the matter then.

Parties ask court for adjournment

The hearings will now most likely not go forward. The attorney general and Meta have reached a settlement agreement, according to documents filed with the court. The documents contain no details about the settlement amount. Neither Meta nor the law firm representing the company were willing to answer media questions.

The attorney general and Meta have jointly requested a 60-day stay to finalize the settlement proposal. If the judge approves it, it will bring another end to a long-running legal case in which Facebook has been embroiled.

These lawsuits preceded the settlement proposal

Indeed, this is the second time in a short time that Meta has stepped in to put an end to a long-running privacy breach. Last week, it was announced that the technology company is willing to pay $37.5 million (6) for a case that has been ongoing since November 2018.

This issue revolved around the collection of location data. Through the settings menu, users could indicate if they did not want Facebook to track their physical location. Yet the company was found to be able to track members closely. To do so, Facebook used users' IP address (7). Even with that, it is possible to track users' location.

It is now up to the San Francisco court to approve the settlement proposal.

In February of this year, the company put down $90 million (8) to settle a privacy case that has been ongoing since 2012. The case involved Facebook tracking users online, even when they were logged out of the application or mobile website. Users started a lawsuit and demanded damages for unlawfully collecting user data.

British lawyer claims £2.3 billion from Meta

A lawsuit is currently pending against Meta. British lawyer Liza Lovdahl Gormsen believes that Facebook has enriched itself on the backs of users by imposing unfair terms of use on them. She is therefore demanding 2.3 billion pounds (9) , or 2.75 billion euros, from the parent company on behalf of 44 million British Facebook users.

1. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/aug/26/facebook-cambridge-analytica-data-privacy-lawsuit-settlement

2. https://www.cnet.com/news/social-media/facebook-parent-meta-to-settle-cambridge-analytica-lawsuit/

3. https://www.vpngids.nl/nieuws/cambridge-analytica-wordt-opgeheven-na-dataschandaal-bij-facebook/

4. https://www.vpngids.nl/privacy/

5. https://www.vpngids.nl/nieuws/zuckerberg-en-sandberg-moeten-getuigen-in-privacyzaak/

6. https://www.vpngids.nl/nieuws/meta-schikt-privacyzaak-voor-37-5-miljoen-dollar/

7. https://www.vpngids.nl/privacy/anoniem-browsen/wat-is-mijn-ip/

8. https://www.vpngids.nl/nieuws/meta-schikt-oude-privacyzaak-voor-90-miljoen-dollar/

9. https://www.vpngids.nl/nieuws/britse-advocaat-dient-miljardenclaim-in-tegen-meta/