Facebook's parent company, Meta, faces a massive financial loss after legal troubles. What started as a platform to share photos, interests, updates, and generally stay connected with loved ones became a host to millions of people's private data.
In 2016, during the presidential election, Meta sold users' private data to third-party companies. The most famous of the privacy breaches was to Cambridge Analytica. The issues here were twofold: users didn't consent to divulge their data, and the Trump campaign funded the company to target voters. The breach prompted a massive lawsuit.
Since this wasn't Meta's first run-in with its users' data privacy, they settled a $725 million lawsuit in December 2022. By the end of August 2023, more than 28 million claims had been filed. While not everyone will receive the same payout amount, the money is coming.
Barring any appeals, settlement checks are expected to roll out before the end of the year. In the interim, Meta has made its security settings easier to navigate. Users can turn off cameras and microphones, reject access to third parties, and even view, download, and delete their data from the network.
Facebook's troubles with user privacy is a financial win and a notice for social media users. Experts admonish users to limit what data they share online and to use a VPN when using public wi-fi.