Meta has agreed to a $725 million settlement for the massive “Cambridge Analytica” scandal that erupted during the Facebook era. Cambridge Analytica was at the center of the scandal that broke out exactly four years ago. Cambridge Analytica had unknowingly access to the personal information of more than 87 million people. Analytica used this data for customized propaganda in the United States elections. This was on the agenda for a very long time.
Cambridge Analytica accessed the personal data of up to 87 million people
Cambridge Analytica was shut down after the events, but legal proceedings are still ongoing. Meta, which decided to reach a settlement in one of the class action lawsuits in order not to prolong the process further, will have to pay 725 million dollars in this context. The settlement resolves user allegations that Facebook violated federal and state laws by allowing companies it does business with to collect user data without permission.
The $725 million settlement is reportedly the largest ever paid in a data privacy-focused class action lawsuit in the US. It is also reportedly the largest amount Meta has ever paid to settle a class action lawsuit. For a company like Meta that makes billions of dollars every quarter, $725 million is not a huge amount. The company has paid much larger fines, especially in Europe.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who testified about this scandal in the past years, answered many questions in front of the cameras. The company, which took many steps to increase security after this, was of course very negatively affected by the process. Thousands of people deleted their accounts after the incident, including Elon Musk with his SpaceX and Tesla accounts. Meta hasn’t put Cambridge Analytica behind it yet. The company is still fighting a lawsuit by the Washington DC attorney general, as well as a number of state attorneys general.
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