Facebook notifies users who may be eligible for $725M privacy settlement

(NEXSTAR) – Some Facebook users received a notification Saturday that wasn’t a friend request or comment (nor a scam, for that matter). The social media platform informed users they may be eligible for a piece of the massive $725 million settlement.

Clicking on the notification leads to a badge that reads, “You may be entitled to payment from the settlement of a lawsuit.”

The lawsuit stems from accusations that Facebook allowed users’ personal data to be shared with third parties, the most famous being Cambridge Analytica, a consulting firm that supported Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. The firm harvested the data of as many as 87 million Facebook users, the Associated Press reported.

“The lawsuit claimed that Facebook shared people’s data with third parties and didn’t monitor how that data was accessed and shared,” the badge on Facebook continues.

Meta has agreed to settle the claim, but denies any wrongdoing.

Final approval of the settlement isn’t expected until September, but Facebook users don’t need to wait to file their claim.

You can verify you meet the eligibility requirements on the settlement website. The criteria is pretty simple: “all Facebook users in the United States between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022, inclusive.”

If you do qualify, you can answer a few questions and file the claim online, or you can submit your answers by mail.

It’s not clear how many users received the notification Saturday. Nexstar reached out to Meta for clarification, but did not hear back by publication time. You also don’t need to have received a notification to file a claim.

The deadline to file a claim is Aug. 25.