SAN FRANCISCO – Facebook’s parent company, Meta, will pay tens of millions of dollars after reaching a settlement in a data-privacy lawsuit surrounding the social network’s use of cookies more than a decade ago.
According to The Associated Press, the company said Tuesday it has agreed to pay $90 million to users involved in the class action suit, which alleged that from 2010 to 2011, Facebook tracked members’ online activity after they had logged out from the site. The company had obtained consent to track members only while they were logged in, the lawsuit said.
Meta also has agreed to delete the data in question, the AP reported.
The settlement, which would resolve a case that has been in the court system since 2012, still awaits a judge’s approval, according to the AP.
“This settlement not only repairs harm done to Facebook users but sets a precedent for the future disposition of such matters,” David Straite, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in a statement, according to Variety.
Meta spokesperson Drew Pusateri said reaching a settlement “is in the best interest of our community and our shareholders, and we’re glad to move past this issue,” the AP reported.
– The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Here are some memorable moments from Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s life in the public eye.
2004: Mark Zuckerberg and Chris Hughes, creators of "Facebook," photographed at Eliot House at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 14, 2004.
2005: Chris Hughes (left) and Mark Zuckerberg, of Facebook, in their Palo Alto, California, location.
2009: Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, attends the Digital Life Design (DLD) conference on January 27, 2009, in Munich, Germany.
2010: Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers the opening keynote address at the f8 Developer Conference April 21, 2010, in San Francisco, California.
2011: U.S. President Barack Obama talks with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg during a town hall style meeting at Facebook headquarters on April 20, 2011, in Palo Alto, California.
2013: Anna Kendrick and Mark Zuckerberg are presenters at the 2014 Breakthrough Prizes Awarded in Fundamental Physics and Life Sciences Ceremony at NASA Ames Research Center on December 12, 2013, in Mountain View, California.
2014: Breakthrough Prize co-founders Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg attend. the Breakthrough Prize Awards Ceremony Hosted by Seth MacFarlane at NASA Ames Research Center on November 9, 2014, in Mountain View, California.
2015: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Priscilla Chan arrive for a state dinner in honor of Chinese President President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan at the White House on September 25, 2015, in Washington, D.C.
2016: Pope Francis meets Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, second from left, and his wife Priscilla Chan, at the Santa Marta residence, the guest house in Vatican City where the pope lives, Monday, Aug. 29, 2016.
2017: Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers the commencement address at the Alumni Exercises at Harvard’s 366th commencement exercises on May 25, 2017, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
2018: Facebook co-founder, Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before a combined Senate Judiciary and Commerce committee hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill April 10, 2018, in Washington, D.C.
2019: Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg attend the eighth annual Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at NASA Ames Research Center on November 3, 2019, in Mountain View, California.
2021: CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg walks with COO of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg after a session at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 8, 2021, in Sun Valley, Idaho.