Meta Reaches $37.5M Settlement For Facebook's User Privacy Violation: Report

Meta Platforms Inc META reached a $37.5 million settlement regarding a 2018 lawsuit alleging Facebook of tracking user movements through their smartphones without permission, Reuters reports.
It resolved claims that Facebook violated California law and privacy policy by gathering data from users who turned off Location Services on their mobile devices.
The users said they did not want to share their locations with Facebook.
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The settlement covers U.S. users of Facebook after January 30, 2015. Meta denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.
In June 2018, Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerberg told the U.S. Congress that it used location data "to help advertisers reach people in particular areas."
Lawyers for the plaintiffs may seek up to 30% of the settlement for legal fees.
Earlier this year, Meta settled a lawsuit alleging Facebook of its use of tracking "cookies" in 2010 and 2011 to track subscribers' internet use even after they had logged off the platform.
Meta held $40.49 billion in cash and equivalents as of June 30.
Price Action: META shares traded higher by 0.3% at $161.60 in the premarket on the last check Wednesday.