Meta's Facebook settles for $90m case in US that it tracked logged-out users         

Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook denied wrongdoing but settled to avoid the costs and risks of a trial, according to settlement papers.

Facebook agreed to pay $90m (€79m) to settle a decade-old privacy lawsuit accusing it of tracking users' internet activity even after they logged out of the social media website.

A proposed preliminary settlement was filed this week with the US District Court in San Jose in California, and requires a judge's approval. The accord also requires Facebook to delete data it collected improperly.

Users accused the Meta Platforms of violating federal and state privacy and wiretapping laws by using plug-ins to store cookies that tracked when they visited outside websites containing Facebook "like" buttons. Facebook then allegedly compiled users' browsing histories into profiles that it sold to advertisers.

The case had been dismissed in June 2017 but was revived in April 2020 by a federal appeals court, which said users could try to prove that the company profited unjustly and violated their privacy. Facebook's subsequent effort to persuade the US Supreme Court to take up the case was unsuccessful.

The company denied wrongdoing but settled to avoid the costs and risks of a trial, according to settlement papers.

Settling "is in the best interest of our community and our shareholders and we're glad to move past this issue," Meta spokesman Drew Pusateri said in an email.

The settlement covers Facebook users in the US who between April 22, 2010, and September 26, 2011, visited non-Facebook websites that displayed Facebook's "like" button.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs plan to seek legal fees of up to $26.1m, or 29%, from the settlement fund. The lawsuit began in February 2012.

Facebook has faced other privacy complaints. In July 2019, it agreed to bolster privacy safeguards in a US Federal Trade Commission settlement that also included a $5bn fine.

On Monday, Texas' attorney general sued Meta, claiming it collected facial recognition data without users' permission. 

Reuters