Australian Facebook users caught in a notorious data breach could be eligible to receive part of a $50 million payout agreed to settle a civil lawsuit.
Meta, led by Mark Zuckerberg and owner of Facebook, accepted the figure after almost a year of mediation talks with the Australian Information Commissioner’s office, which filed the lawsuit in the Federal Court in March 2020.
It alleged that the data of up to 311,000 Australian users was leaked into the hands of Cambridge Analytica, where it was at risk of being used for political profiling purposes.
Data from 87 million Facebook users around the world could have been shared with the company, Facebook previously said.
in a statement On Tuesday, Australian Information Commissioner Elizabeth Tydd said the payment was the largest ever made to address privacy concerns of individual Australians.
“Australians need to be assured that whenever they provide their personal information to an organisation, they will be protected by the Privacy Act wherever that information goes,” he said.
Cambridge University professor Aleksandr Kogan launched an app in November 2013 called “This is Your Digital Life,” which was presented to Facebook users as an online quiz.
It was later revealed that Dr. Kogan was sharing information he obtained through the app with British data analytics company Cambridge Analytica.
Australian Facebook users caught in a notorious data breach could be eligible for part of a $50 million payout agreed to settle a civil lawsuit.
Under Facebook rules at the time, third-party apps could access certain user details, such as names and dates of birth, as long as the user gave permission when installing the app.
Apps could also access data that friends have chosen to share with a user.
Meta said in settling the lawsuit that it leaked data largely relating to users in the United States and that there was no evidence that any Australian users’ information was involved in the breach.
According to the information commissioner, people could start applying for the payment program in the second quarter of 2025.
Payments from the settlement could be available to eligible Australian Facebook users who had an account between November 2, 2013 and December 17, 2015.
To be eligible, users must also have been present in Australia for more than 30 days during that period and have installed the This is Your Digital Life app or be friends on Facebook with someone who has installed it.
The payment plan has two tiers, with the base being for people who believe they experienced widespread concern or embarrassment over the matter.
The second category, which is likely to be eligible for higher payments, is people who can prove they have suffered loss or damage as a result.
A Meta spokesperson said the company’s systems had changed significantly since the time of the leaks.
“We agree that it is in the best interest of our community and shareholders to close this chapter on allegations related to past practices that are no longer relevant to the current operation of Meta’s products or systems,” they said.
“We look forward to continuing to build services that Australians love and trust, with privacy at the forefront.”