Facebook settles Cambridge Analytica data harvesting lawsuit for undisclosed sum 

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Facebook Cambridge Analytica data harvesting settlement overview: 

• Who: Facebook agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to settle claims revolving around the Cambridge Analytica data breach scandal. 
• Why: The Facebook settlement will resolve long standing claims made by Facebook users who allege the company violated consumer privacy laws by sharing their personal data with third parties such as Cambridge Analytica. 
• Where: The complaint is currently in California federal court. 

Facebook has agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to resolve claims it allowed Cambridge Analytica to unlawfully access private data from tens of millions of its user accounts. 

The Facebook settlement, which has been agreed to in principle, will settle long-standing allegations that the company unlawfully shared the data of its users with the analysis firm, The Guardian reports. 

Facebook faced allegations about what would become known as the Cambridge Analytica data harvesting scandal after a whistleblower came forward in 2018 alleging a mass misuse of data. 

The revelations would force Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify in front of Congress and led to the company receiving a multibillion-pound fine in addition to a share price drop of more than $100 billion, The Guardian reports. 

Facebook settlement result of users’ claims that company violated consumer privacy laws

A group of Facebook users filed a complaint against the company after it came out that Cambridge Analytica used data it unlawfully collected to help the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump. 

The Facebook users claimed the company violated consumer privacy laws by sharing their personal data with third parties, including Cambridge Analytica, The Guardian reports.  

Cambridge Analytica, which was reportedly able to access the data of more than 87 million Facebook accounts, would go on to file for bankruptcy two months after the whistleblower allegations against it were made public. 

No financial terms or details of the proposed settlement agreement were made available. The filing asked the judge overseeing the class action lawsuit to put the complaint on hold as the two sides work to finalise the settlement, The Guardian reports. 

Alexander Nix, the former CEO of Cambridge Analytica, was banned in 2020 from managing an organisation for seven years following the data harvesting scandal involving Facebook. 

What do you think of the Facebook settlement? Have you had your personal data shared with a third party without your knowledge or consent? Let us know in the comments! 

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