Facebook has agreed to pay $90 million to settle a decade-old privacy complaint in which it was accused of tracking users’ internet activity even after they signed off.
The proposed preliminary settlement was submitted on Monday and must be approved by the court. It was also stated that Facebook must delete the data that was obtained improperly.
In 2012, a lawsuit was filed alleging that Facebook employed proprietary plug-ins to monitor internet traffic on third-party sites between 2010 and 2011. The corporation has users’ permission to get consent while they are logged in, but Facebook continues to track users even when they are not logged in.
It was also alleged that Facebook was selling the collected data to third-party advertisers.
According to law firm DiCello Levitt Gutzler the said agreement is among the 10 largest data privacy settlements in US history.
Facebook’s subsequent attempt to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to review the matter was unsuccessful. According to settlement papers, the company denied wrongdoing but settled to avoid the costs and risks of a trial.
In an email, Meta spokesperson Drew Pusateri stated that settling “is in the best interests of our community and our shareholders, and we’re glad to move past this issue.”
