Meta has agreed to pay $725m to settle a lawsuit that accused the social network of enabling third parties to access users’ private data.
According to Security Week, the amount was disclosed in a court filing last week and was initiated in 2018 when Facebook users accused the social network on violating privacy rules by sharing their data with third parties that included firms such as Cambridge Analytica.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs said in the filing that the proposed settlement of $725m is the largest recovery ever achieved in a data privacy class action and the most Facebook has ever paid to resolve a private class action.
Facebook has not admitted any wrongdoing as part of the settlement, which still requires approval by a judge in the San Francisco division of the US District Court.
Meta spokesperson Dina El-Kassaby said, “We pursued a settlement as it’s in the best interest of our community and shareholders. Over the last three years we revamped our approach to privacy and implemented a comprehensive privacy program.”
It was reported in August that Facebook had reached a preliminary agreement, although the amount and terms of the settlement were not announced.
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