Montana Facebook Settlement: Who Qualifies and When Payments Arrive

Social media is everywhere and in some cases, can feel like a necessary evil. What used to be a tool of self-expression (MySpace anyone?) has evolved into a medium of information and data; even becoming a primary tool used by news sources all over the world.

Unfortunately, social media can also cause some serious, personal problems.

Montana Facebook Users Have Their Data Stolen

Social media is all about creating content and for most people, that means sharing personal aspects of their lives including birthdays, family accomplishments, and even new job announcements.

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There are so many of us who've seen people's lives play out on a newsfeed that it's easy to forget there are criminals out there watching the same thing. Back in 2023, it was announced that Meta/Facebook was the subject of a class action lawsuit following accusations of a major data leak.

According to the official page for this lawsuit:

Numerous lawsuits were brought on behalf of Facebook users who allege that Facebook (now Meta Platforms, Inc.) shared or otherwise made accessible to third parties (including but not limited to third-party app developers, “whitelisted” parties, business partners, advertisers, and data brokers) user data and data about users’ friends without permission of the users whose data was shared, and did not sufficiently monitor and enforce third-party access or use of that data.

None of us should be surprised and while Meta/Facebook has agreed to fork out cash to the defendants, they have no admitted any wrongdoing.

How Do I Get My Claim Money From Facebook?

Unfortunately, if you didn't fill out a form when the lawsuit first made headlines back in 2023, you're not going to get any money from the $725 million settlement.

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To qualify for the claim, you had to be a Facebook user "in the United States between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022" and also have submitted a claim by August 25, 2023. If you met the criteria, you should be getting your settlement money either digitally or however you requested to receive it within the next ten weeks.

You can check the status of your claim and get more information HERE.