--- title: "Facebook Is Giving Away Free Money, Y’all" description: "Facebook is sending users money in a class action lawsuit settlement — and if you used the site at any point in the last 15 years, you can get some, too." date: "2023-04-18" modified: "2023-04-18" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/facebook-free-money-settlement" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "data privacy" - "facebook" - "lawsuits" - "the digest" --- # Facebook Is Giving Away Free Money, Y’all ![Facebook is sending users money in a class action lawsuit settlement — and if you used the site at any point in the last 15 years, you can get some, too.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Done Goofed Facebook is sending eligibile users money in a class action lawsuit settlement — and if you used the site basically at any point in the last 15 years, you can get in on the acti0n too. The [FAQ for the settlement]() specifies that the company now known as Meta notes that "all Facebook users in the United States between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022" are eligible to take part in the class action settlement because, even though the company denies any wrongdoing, a judge has ordered it to pay out settlements to all its users over alleged privacy and user data sharing complaints. As *Mashable* and other news outlets [helpfully filled in](), there's a lot of context behind this sweeping settlement that first began with 2018's [Cambridge Analytica scandal]() but has extended far beyond it. In essence, Facebook — or [ugh, fine, Meta]() — is basically being forced to pay anyone who used the site over that huge time period and files a claim because it's faced so, [so many]() [lawsuits]() about its alleged [sharing of private user data with third parties](). ## Money Talks As [*SF Gate* notes](), the $725 million class action settlement was approved by a judge [at the end of March]() and will be disbursed based firstly on how many people submit claims and secondly on how many months each individual claimant used the site between May 2007 and December 2022. Translation: if you were an early Facebook adopter, you could get a check that's better than a kick in the pants, though again this is all contingent upon how many people file claims and will only be drawn up after the lawyers take a 25 percent fee, which will no doubt be a pretty penny for them. The deadline to [submit a claim]() is August 25 and a hearing about it is scheduled for early September, so if you do choose to file a claim, don't expect to see that money anytime soon. Nevertheless, it's a super-exciting prospect — and even if any of us only end up getting teeny tiny checks, it's a cool way to be a part of a historic settlement. **More on Facebook:** [*It Sounds Like Facebook Is Completely Falling Apart*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()