Meta, the recently renamed parent company of Facebook, agreed to pay $90 million to settle a decade-old data privacy lawsuit.
The lawsuit, which was settled in the Northern District of California on Monday, dealt with Facebook’s use of website cookies between 2010 and 2011 tracking user activity, even while users were off Facebook.
“We are grateful to the Ninth Circuit for its watershed ruling and to Facebook for negotiating this resolution in good faith. This settlement not only repairs harm done to Facebook users but sets a precedent for the future disposition of such matters,” said David Straite, co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs, in a press statement.
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“Reaching a settlement in this case, which is more than a decade old, is in the best interest of our community and our shareholders, and we’re glad to move past this issue,” a spokesperson for Meta told Variety.
Facebook agreed to sequester and delete all related data as part of the settlement.
The 2012 lawsuit focused on Facebook’s use of plug-ins to track users’ internet browsing on third-party websites. While Facebook initially sought permission to track internet access while logged in, it did not seek said permission while off the website or logged out.
Facebook had won the case three times before appearing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. In a 2020 ruling, the 9th Circuit determined that the unlawful monetization of personal data creates “economic harm.” This decision contrasted with earlier legislation, which argued that objective numbers had to be provided to prove the harm.
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Facebook attempted to bring the case before the Supreme Court in 2021, only for the court to decline to review the case.
If approved by a judge, the settlement will be the second-largest data privacy settlement in U.S. history. The largest to date was a $650 million settlement in July 2021 over the company’s unauthorized use of facial recognition software.
Facebook is currently facing several lawsuits, including a lawsuit filed on Monday by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton seeking hundreds of billions over the company’s facial recognition practices.
Representatives from Meta did not respond to requests for comment from the Washington Examiner.
