Facebook Parent Meta Agrees to Pay $90 Million to Settle Privacy Lawsuit Over Tracking 63z4 Technology News

The accord also requires Facebook to delete data it collected improperly. 3mh

By Reuters | Updated: 16 February 2022 17:55 IST

Settlement covers Facebook s in the United States who between April 22, 2010 and September 26, 2011 2x48s

Highlights

Facebook allegedly compiled s' browsing histories
The case had been dismissed in June 2017
The company denied wrongdoing but settled to avoid the costs

ment

Facebook agreed to pay $90 million (roughly Rs. 675 crore) to settle a decade-old privacy lawsuit accusing it of tracking s' Internet activity even after they logged out of the social media website.

A proposed preliminary settlement was filed on Monday night with the US District Court in San Jose, California, and requires a judge's approval. The accord also requires Facebook to delete data it collected improperly.

s accused the Meta unit of violating federal and state privacy and wiretapping laws by using plug-ins to store cookies that tracked when they visited outside websites containing Facebook "like" buttons.

Meta Closes Kustomer Deal After Regulatory Approval

Facebook then allegedly compiled s' browsing histories into profiles that it sold to rs.

The case had been dismissed in June 2017, but was revived in April 2020 by a federal appeals court, which said s could try to prove that the Menlo Park, California-based company profited unjustly and violated their privacy.

Facebook's subsequent effort to persuade the US Supreme Court to take up the case was unsuccessful.

Meta's Facebook Sued by Texas State Over Facial-Recognition Practices

The company denied wrongdoing but settled to avoid the costs and risks of a trial, according to settlement papers.

Settling "is in the best interest of our community and our shareholders and we're glad to move past this issue," Meta spokesman Drew Pusateri said in an email.

The settlement covers Facebook s in the United States who between April 22, 2010 and September 26, 2011 visited non-Facebook websites that displayed Facebook's "like" button.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs plan to seek legal fees of up to $26.1 million (roughly Rs. 195 crore), or 29 percent, from the settlement fund. The lawsuit began in February 2012.

Facebook has faced other privacy complaints.

In July 2019, it agreed to bolster privacy safeguards in a US Federal Trade Commission settlement that also included a $5 billion (roughly Rs. 37,520 crore) fine.

On Monday, Texas' attorney general sued Meta, claiming it collected facial recognition data without s' permission.

The case is In re: Facebook Internet Tracking Litigation, US District Court, Northern District of California, No. 12-md-02314.

Do Samsung's Galaxy S22 and Tab S8 series have any Android competition? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.