The U.S Northern District Court of California San Jose Division, approved, on 10 November 2022, in Case 5:12-md-02314-EJD a $90 million settlement with Meta Platforms. Inc, as well as imposing an order to sequester and expunge all improperly collected data, without admitting liability, following a class action lawsuit.

Background to the case

In particular, the settlement highlights that complainants had alleged that Meta had knowingly intercepted and tracked users' internet activity on pages that displayed a 'Like' button using cookies, or a small text file that the server creates and sends to the browser, which stores it in a particular directory on the user's computer in violation of state and federal laws, including 18 U.S.C. § 2510, et. seq. of the Federal Wiretap Act of 1968, 18 U.S.C. § 2701, et. seq of the Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1030 of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and the California Invasion of Privacy Act.

Findings of the Court

The case was settled and therefore the alleged violations were not ascertained.

Outcomes

Further to the above, the settlement details that the complainants had reached a settlement, which requires Meta to pay $90 million to a common settlement fund and sequester and expunge all improperly collected data, without admitting liability. Furthermore, the settlement states that the deadline for compliance is 10 February 2023.

You can read the settlement here.