Category: Settlement

The Facebook User Privacy Settlement

April 19, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Last year, I blogged about an upcoming Facebook settlement that might net some users a few dollars each. Well, there’s another newer Facebook settlement that you should know about. If you sign up for the Facebook User Privacy Settlement, you could get another chunk of money.

The latest Facebook settlement tracks back to the whole Cambridge Analytica scandal of 2018. While Meta expressly denies any liability or wrongdoing, a court has ruled against them, and Facebook will pay out $725M to avoid going to trial.

So, if you’ve used Facebook at any time in the last 16 years, in the USA, you are eligible to sign up for your piece of the settlement money. You can start at this website, and click the Submit Claim link to get started.

You will have to submit your name, email, mailing address and agree to a payout method (Zelle, Venmo, prepaid card, etc.). You’ll also need to supply your Facebook username. The survey tells you how to find this last info, but it is still confusing. I suggest that you go to Facebook on a computer, and click your name to the upper-left. Once your personal profile page loads, look at the address bar at the top of your browser. Your username is what comes after “https://www.facebook.com/”.

The Fortnite Settlement

December 21, 2022 / / 0 Comments

If you play Fortnite, you may want to keep tabs on this: Epic Game, the maker of Fortnite, has to pay over a half of a billion dollars to our federal government. This is a settlement over charging players for unwanted items, as well as locking people out of the game when they tried to dispute charges.

And a lot of that money will come back to Fortnite players! But… the FTC hasn’t figured out that part yet. I’m sure it’ll come out soon. If this affects you, keep an eye on the FTC page about this settlement, or sign up for FTC email updates.

The Facebook Internet Tracking Settlement

July 1, 2022 / / 0 Comments

If you’ve received an email or news about the Facebook Internet Tracking Settlement, please know that it is legitimate & true.

You may trust in the following and take part in the proceedings, to get your piece of the settlement:

The Lawsuit

Facebook is accused of collecting user data through outside websites, and selling it to advertisers. They allegedly did this through those Facebook Like buttons that used to appear all over the web. In doing so, Facebook may have violated privacy laws and unjustly profited from all of us.

Facebook is admitting no guilt in the matter, but they are settling. In order to put this matter to bed, they are agreeing to a $90 Million settlement. It’s somewhat of a speeding ticket to a company worth $538 Billion, but so it goes…

How to Participate

You can get your share of that settlement, as long as you qualify. Consider yourself qualified if you:

  • Had a Facebook account between 4/22/2010 and 9/26/2011
  • Visited non-Facebook websites that displayed the Facebook Like button.

Don’t remember if that was the case? Those Like buttons were everywhere back then, so it is very likely you encountered them, while reading the news or checking out personal blogs or shopping online.

Here’s the website to sign up, just scroll down to the SUBMIT A CLAIM section and use the Submit Online link to get started.

Final Commentary

I notice that the Online Claim page may not load in the presence of an ad-blocker. I guess they are tracking who visits that page! If you can’t get it to load, try disabling your ad-blocker. Or, you can right-click the link and open the page in Incognito/InPrivate mode. That should bypass any adblocker woes.

And after all of that reading & signing up & waiting… you might get a dollar or two. Sorry, but the lawyers are going to take a big bite out of that $90M before it trickles down to us. There are 240 million Facebook users in the USA. It all comes down to how many people hear about this and sign up, I suppose.

Dark Patterns: Auto-Renewal Traps

September 6, 2020 / / 0 Comments

ABCMouse was recently punished by the FTC, to the tune of $10 million. They were fined for a variety of deceptive practices, including recurring charges to customer credit cards for membership renewals that were either not disclosed or difficult to terminate.

Auto-renewal traps are nothing new. ABCMouse is certainly a big name, but many other companies do business this way. They store your payment info and charge you periodically, even after you’ve stopped using the product. They sign you up for automatic payments, and create a confusing or complicated process for defeating that feature.

These dark patterns are widespread on the web, and I encounter them most commonly with antivirus companies and other software services. But to focus solely on auto-renewal traps, here’s what I can recommend:

  • Review your credit card statements every month, to catch unexpected charges.
  • Track down and disable any renewal options you don’t want, by logging in to your account at the relevant company website. Don’t remember your account password? Use the Forgot Password tool at that website to get logged in.
  • If using the website proves difficult, instead chat or call the company and ask for auto-renewal to be turned off. Expect that they will try to dissuade you. Repeat your request as often as you need to, don’t let them sidetrack you, but also don’t mistreat the agent. They are programmed to act in their way, and you should persist as you would against a stubborn computer.
  • When all else fails, or if you simply run short on patience or time, disconnect and then call your credit card company. Explain that you tried and failed to work with the company. Ask to dispute the renewal charge and they should promptly help you get your money back.

And if you feel any company is breaking the law or hurting people with their tactics, report it to the FTC.

The Google Plus Settlement

August 4, 2020 / / 0 Comments

From 2011 to 2019, Google tried to get in on the social media craze with their Google+ platform. It never caught on, and the nail in its coffin was when it was shown that users’ information was not safeguarded well. Anyone with a Google+ profile may have had their PII revealed to 3rd-party developers.

If you had a Gmail account at that time, you had a Google+ profile. It was created for you automatically by Google! Hence, Google must invite anyone with a Gmail address to enter as a claimant in this class action lawsuit.

The payout will be $12 or less, per email address, and you can consider the details here:

https://www.googleplusdatalitigation.com/

Use the small SUBMIT A CLAIM button to fill out your info, if you want your share of the settlement. If you have multiple Gmails, you are welcome to submit the form again and again, for some or all of your addresses.

The Big iPhone Throttling Settlement

July 14, 2020 / / 0 Comments

In 2017, Apple got in hot water for slowing down some of their iPhones. They did this for legitimate technology reasons, but because they didn’t disclose it properly, it looked really bad. Their lack of transparency made it seem like they were deliberately slowing their older phones, and many suspected it was done to drive new iPhone sales.

A class action lawsuit ensued, and it has finally come to a head. If you were affected by this iPhone issue (iPhones 6’s and 7’s with specific iOSes), you can stake your claim to your share of the settlement. Check out:

https://www.smartphoneperformancesettlement.com/

To sign up for your payment, you’ll probably use the Claim Form Online link to submit your info. Please know that you’ll either need your iPhone serial number, or you’ll have to use their special Search Tool, submitting your AppleID and other personal info. If you did not own a relevant iPhone, then you will probably not succeed in signing up for a payment!

It looks like claims must be submitted by 10/6/2020 so that they can wrap things up by December and start mailing out checks for the new year. If all goes well, you’ll get a whopping $25. Per qualifying iPhone.

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