Facebook users can apply for their portion of a $725 million lawsuit settlement

By Ayana Archie

Published April 20, 2023 at 4:22 AM EDT

Tony Avelar

Facebook's Meta logo sign is seen at the company headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., on, Oct. 28, 2021. Anyone in the U.S. who has had a Facebook account at any time since May 24, 2007, can now apply for their share of a $725 million privacy settlement that parent company Meta has agreed to pay. Meta is paying to settle a laws

Facebook users can now apply for their share of a $725 million privacy lawsuit settlement if they had accounts from May 2007 to December 2022.

Facebook's parent company, Meta, is doling out the payments to settle a lawsuit alleging it allowed Cambridge Analytica, a former British political consulting firm used by the 2016 Donald Trump presidential campaign, to access about 87 million users' personal information.

To apply for the funds, people can apply online or by mailing their forms by Aug. 25.

The form requires you to input your name, address, contact information, birthday, Facebook handle and payment information.

In 2018, Cambridge Analytica allegedly paid Facebook developers for user data, which was then used to target voters in the 2016 election.

After the scandal surfaced, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg fielded questions from members of the U.S. Congress, who accused him of failing to protect the data.