London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Meta settles Cambridge Analytica scandal case for $725m

Meta settles Cambridge Analytica scandal case for $725m

Facebook owner Meta has agreed to pay $725m (£600m) to settle legal action over a data breach linked to political consultancy Cambridge Analytica. The proposed deal by Facebook's owner is the largest in a US data privacy class action, say lawyers.
The long-running dispute accused the social media giant of allowing third parties, including the British firm, to access Facebook users' personal data.

The proposed sum is the largest in a US data privacy class action, lawyers say.

Meta, which did not admit wrongdoing, said it had "revamped" its approach to privacy over the past three years.

In a statement, the company said settling was "in the best interest of our community and shareholders".

"We look forward to continuing to build services people love and trust with privacy at the forefront."

Tech author James Ball told the BBC it was "not a surprise" that Meta has had to agree to a serious pay-out but that it was "not that much" money to the tech giant.

"It's less than a tenth of what it spent on its efforts to create 'the metaverse' last year alone," he said.

"So Meta probably won't be too unhappy with this deal, but it does stand as a warning to social media companies that mistakes can prove very costly indeed."

The suggested settlement, which was disclosed in a court filing late on Thursday, is subject to the approval of a federal judge in San Francisco.

"This historic settlement will provide meaningful relief to the class in this complex and novel privacy case," lead lawyers for the plaintiffs, Derek Loeser and Lesley Weaver, said in a statement.

The complaint was filed on behalf of a large proposed class of Facebook users, whose personal data on the social network was released to third parties without their consent.

The class size is "in the range of 250-280 million" people, according to the ruling document, representing all Facebook users in the US during the "class period" which runs from 24 May, 2007 to 22 December, 2022.

It is not clear how the plaintiffs would claim their share of the settlement.

Janis Wong, a privacy and ethics researcher at The Alan Turing Institute, said it would only amount to two or three dollars per person if each individual decided to make a claim.

A further hearing on the settlement is due to take place on 2 March, 2023.

"Even though this $725m settlement doesn't cover UK users, earlier this year a competition law expert put forward a multi-billion dollar class action suit against Meta regarding users' data exploitation that does cover the Cambridge Analytica period.

"We should hear more about that from the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal in the new year," she told the BBC.

The harvesting of Facebook users' personal information by third-party apps was at the centre of the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal, exposed in 2018.

The consulting firm, now defunct, worked for Donald Trump's successful presidential campaign in 2016, and used personal information from millions of US Facebook accounts for the purposes of voter profiling and targeting.

The firm obtained that information without users' consent from a researcher who had been allowed by Facebook to deploy an app on the platform which harvested data from millions of its users.

The scandal prompted government investigations into Facebook's privacy practices, leading to lawsuits and a high-profile US congressional hearing in which Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg was questioned.

In 2019, Facebook agreed to pay $5bn to resolve a Federal Trade Commission probe into its privacy practices.

The tech giant also paid $100 million to settle US Securities and Exchange Commission claims that it misled investors about the misuse of users' data.

Investigations by state attorneys general are continuing, and the company is challenging a legal action by the attorney general for Washington DC.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
×