Facebook / Meta Data Breach Settlement — How to File Your Claim in 2026

The largest Facebook privacy settlement ever reached was the $725 million Cambridge Analytica class action, finalized in late 2022. The lawsuit arose after it was revealed that political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica had harvested the personal data of up to 87 million Facebook users — without their knowledge or consent — through a third-party personality quiz app. The data was later used to build detailed psychological profiles for targeted political advertising during the 2016 US presidential election and the UK Brexit referendum.

The class covered all US Facebook users with accounts at any time between May 24, 2007 and December 22, 2022. That's effectively anyone who's ever had a Facebook account. If you filed a claim before the August 25, 2023 deadline, you received a payment in 2024 — approximately $30 per person based on claims volume, though some users reported higher amounts. If you missed the window, that particular settlement is closed. However, related Facebook privacy litigation continues through the courts. Subscribe to free alerts on SettlementRadar to be notified when the next major Meta settlement opens for claims.

In 2021, Facebook paid $650 million to settle a class action in Illinois under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The lawsuit alleged that Facebook's "Tag Suggestions" feature — which used facial recognition to automatically identify and suggest tags for people in uploaded photos — collected and stored biometric face geometry data without obtaining required written consent.

This was the largest BIPA settlement in history at the time it was reached. Illinois residents who had a Facebook account between June 7, 2011 and August 19, 2020 were eligible. Each eligible claimant who filed received approximately $397 — far above the typical settlement payout. The claiming period closed in 2021 and payments were distributed. If you were an Illinois Facebook user during the class period and missed this settlement, watch for any related biometric privacy claims that may emerge from other states or platforms.

In April 2021, a massive dataset containing the personal information of approximately 533 million Facebook users from 106 countries was posted freely on a hacker forum. The data — which included phone numbers, full names, Facebook IDs, locations, birthdates, email addresses, and biographical details — was scraped from Facebook's platform in 2019 by exploiting a feature in Facebook's contact importer.

This incident generated class action litigation. If you were notified by Facebook or discovered through a data breach checker that your information was part of this leak, you may be eligible for a related settlement. Check the settlement cards above for any currently open claims tied to the 2021 Facebook data scraping incident. The phone numbers exposed in this leak have been connected to a significant increase in spam calls, phishing texts, and SIM-swapping attacks against affected users. Documented losses from such incidents can qualify you for elevated reimbursement tiers in any related settlement.

Beyond the major closed settlements above, Meta Platforms continues to face active class action litigation across multiple fronts in 2026:

**Privacy tracking lawsuits:** Multiple lawsuits allege that Meta's advertising pixel technology tracked users across websites even after they explicitly logged out or opted out of personalized advertising, violating the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and various state privacy statutes.

**Instagram data practices:** Class actions targeting Instagram's alleged unauthorized collection of camera and location data have reached settlement discussions in several jurisdictions.

**WhatsApp privacy settlements:** In 2021, WhatsApp paid $225 million in an EU data protection fine, and related US class actions over unauthorized data sharing with Facebook parent systems are progressing through courts.

**Illinois BIPA (ongoing):** Facebook's BIPA settlement covered past conduct through 2020. New biometric privacy claims covering subsequent periods are being evaluated by courts. Illinois residents who joined Facebook after August 2020 may be eligible for new BIPA-related claims.

Check the settlement cards at the top of this page for every Meta and Facebook-related settlement currently accepting claims with active filing deadlines.

There are several ways to verify whether your personal data was exposed in a Meta-related breach or data scraping incident:

**1. Have I Been Pwned (haveibeenpwned.com):** This free tool checks your email address against a database of known breaches. The 2021 Facebook data scraping incident is indexed here. Enter your primary Facebook account email to see if it appears in the breach dataset.

**2. Your phone number:** The 2021 Facebook scrape primarily exposed phone numbers. If you've experienced a sudden increase in spam calls, phishing texts, or received a SIM swap warning from your carrier after April 2021, your data was likely in this leak.

**3. Facebook's own data portal:** Navigate to facebook.com/dyi (Download Your Information) to see what data Facebook holds on your account. While this won't tell you directly if your data was leaked, it shows you the breadth of information Facebook collects.

**4. Credit monitoring:** The Cambridge Analytica data — which included political leanings, personality profiles, and behavioral data — was used for micro-targeted influence campaigns, not direct financial fraud. But data breaches often cascade. If you've experienced unusual account activity on other platforms since 2018, it's worth checking your credit report at AnnualCreditReport.com for unauthorized inquiries.

Filing a Meta settlement claim follows the same process as any class action. Here's exactly how to do it:

**Step 1 — Confirm the settlement is open.** Use the settlement cards at the top of this page or search "facebook settlement" on SettlementRadar to see which Meta-related claims are currently accepting filings and verify the deadline hasn't passed.

**Step 2 — Check your eligibility.** Each settlement has a class period (the date range of the violation). For most Facebook settlements, you need to have had an account during that window. Some settlements are US-only; some are state-specific (like BIPA, which covers Illinois residents only). Read the class definition carefully.

**Step 3 — Gather your account information.** For most Meta settlements, you only need: your full name, current mailing address, and the email address associated with your Facebook account. No screenshots, receipts, or documentation is typically required for basic claim tiers.

**Step 4 — Visit the official settlement website.** SettlementRadar links directly to official settlement administrator sites. Never file through a third-party site that charges a fee — the official claim process is always free.

**Step 5 — Complete the claim form.** Most Facebook settlement forms take 3–7 minutes. Fill in your details, confirm your eligibility, select your preferred payment method (check, PayPal, Venmo, or direct deposit), and submit.

**Step 6 — Save your confirmation number.** You'll receive an email confirmation. Save the claim reference number — you'll need it if there are any issues with your claim later.

**Step 7 — Wait for payment.** Facebook settlements typically distribute payments 6–18 months after the filing deadline closes, once the court issues final approval. You'll receive payment by the method you selected.