Illinois Facebook Users Could See Settlement Money Soon

If you were one of the millions of people who filed a claim in the big Facebook settlement, you might finally be seeing some money hit your account. Believe it or not, those payments are officially going out.

The whole thing comes from the $725 million settlement with Facebook's parent company, Meta. The lawsuit says Facebook was letting third parties snoop on other users without their OK and then failed to keep track of how the data was used. Naughty, naughty.

READ MORE: Warning to Rockford Facebook Sellers: Scammers Posing as Buyers with Venmo Trick

Why Facebook Had to Pay Up

Meta attempted to appeal, like a lot, and finally just gave in and said, "Fine, we'll just give everyone some money. How's that?" Payments started rolling out in August, and according to the settlement site, they will continue for about 10 weeks. If you filed, keep an eye on your inbox so you do not miss it. Of course, it's been so long I don't remember if I filed, and I haven't received an email, so who knows.

Who Qualified for Settlement Money

Who was eligible to get their hands on that sweet, sweet Facebook funny money? Well, it's a rather large window, actually. People who used Facebook between mid-2007 and late 2022 qualify, so that means just about everybody. Even people who deleted their accounts during that period could file. The deadline to submit a claim has come and gone, so it's too late to get in on the fun.

How the Payouts Are Calculated

How much will you get paid out? It depends. The longer you have had a Facebook account, the more you'll get back. Each month of use counted as a point, and once all the claims and costs are added up, the money is divided by those points. Yikes. Lots of math.

READ MORE: Illinois Is Suing Facebook’s Parent Company: They’re Harming Kids

When to Expect Your Check

Here's the most important part of the saga: the checks are real, but you will not be quitting your job with this payout. It's just nice to know that we are getting close to the end of the line. This story has been going on for years now.