Meta/Facebook settles Privacy Lawsuit for $90 million

As part of a decade-old privacy lawsuit, Facebook has agreed to pay $90 million to settle the accusations of tracking users’ internet activity.

An initial settlement was filed last Valentine’s Day with the US District Court in San Jose, California. The accord also requires the company to delete any data collected improperly.

Users accused the company of violating federal and state privacy and wiretapping laws via plug-ins and “cookies” that tracked members even if they signed off the site. Facebook was then accused of compiling this data and selling it to advertising companies.

The case was dismissed last June 2017 but was revived in April 2020 by a federal appeals court. The court claims that users could try to prove that the Menlo Park, California-based company profited unjustly and violated their privacy. Following this, Facebook’s efforts to persuade the US Supreme Court to take up the case proved unsuccessful.

According to the settlement papers, the company denied any wrongdoing but agreed to the deal to avoid any risk of a trial.

Facebook Spokesperson, Drew Pusateri, stated that settling “is in the best interest of our community and our shareholders and we’re glad to move past this issue.”

This is not the first time the social media giant faced privacy complaints. Last July 2019, the company agreed to improve privacy safeguards in a US Federal Trade Commission settlement. That particular deal also came with a $5 billion fine.

Source: Rappler