Just over 10 years ago in 2010 and 2011, Facebook was faced with allegations that it continued to track users’ data and visits to other sites even after they logged off. The parent company, Meta, has finally submitted a settlement agreement for $90 million to the San Francisco federal court, but it’s up to the judge to decide whether to approve it or not.
For those who don’t know about this case, Facebook had terms and conditions that specifically stated that it would no longer track user activity after logging off. However, several of the plaintiffs discovered that it not only continued to do so, but also monetized the data. The case has been in and out of several smaller courts before landing in the federal court.
The issue was whether this act caused any damage or harm to the plaintiffs, and if so, what the value was. Meta decided that it was time to put this case to an end, which is the only reason it submitted the settlement agreement. There’s no official statement saying that the company agrees that what it did was wrong.
This settlement may mean the end of one case, but a new one has emerged. People in Texas are now suing Meta for using facial recognition technology on Instagram and Facebook to spy on what users are posting to their feeds. The claim is for billions of dollars, so who knows how long this battle will go on for. At this rate, we’re wondering how long before Meta changes its name again in the face of these new headlines.