Meta to Pay $725M to Settle Long-running Privacy Lawsuit

In order to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the social media behemoth of granting access to user data to outside companies, such as Cambridge Analytica, Facebook owner Meta Platforms has agreed to pay $725 million.

The long-running case brought on by allegations in 2018 that Facebook had permitted the British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica to access the data of as many as 87 million users would be resolved by the proposed settlement, which was revealed in a court filing late on Thursday.

The proposed payment was described as the largest ever reached in a US data privacy class action and as the most Meta has ever paid to settle a class action complaint by the plaintiffs' attorneys.

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

In a statement, the business claimed that reaching a settlement was "in the best interest of our community and stockholders."

"Over the last three years we revamped our approach to privacy and implemented a comprehensive privacy program," Meta said.