Millions of Facebook users in the United States are set to receive a second payment from the landmark $725 million class-action settlement stemming from the Cambridge Analytica data scandal — with payouts beginning on Tuesday 9 June and continuing for four weeks.
Around $100 million has remained unclaimed in the settlement fund since the first round of payments went out in September 2025, and a California court approved a second distribution last month. The settlement administrator estimates that more than 15 million people will share in the remaining money, which amounts to approximately $95 million after $5 million in administrative fees, according to court filings.
The payments will be smaller than those issued in the first round, which had a median payout of $32.45. Second-round payments are expected to range from $4.67 to $7.32, depending on how long users spent on the platform within the eligibility window. Payouts are calculated using “allocation points” — one point for each month a user was active on Facebook between 24 May 2007 and 22 December 2022. A user active for three years, for example, would accumulate 36 allocation points.
Only those who filed a valid claim before the 25 August 2023 deadline and cashed their first-round payment will be eligible. Anyone who missed the original deadline is not entitled to a share of the second distribution. Eligible claimants will be notified by email three to four days before their payment is issued, with the subject line: “Facebook User Privacy Settlement – Settlement and Second Distribution Status Update.” Payments will be issued by the same method chosen during the initial claim — including cheque, direct deposit, PayPal, Venmo, Zelle or prepaid debit card.
Claimants unsure of their eligibility for the second round can contact the settlement administrator at info@facebookuserprivacysettlement.com with their claim ID.
The settlement arose from a class-action lawsuit that began as separate cases consolidated in 2018, in which plaintiffs accused Facebook of sharing user data without consent with third parties including data brokers, advertisers and app developers. The case was directly linked to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which the now-defunct marketing firm was accused of improperly scraping Facebook user data and selling it to unapproved third parties to target voters during the 2016 US presidential election.
Meta, Facebook’s parent company — now valued at $1.5 trillion — agreed to settle the lawsuit in December 2022 without admitting any liability or wrongdoing. The settlement was finalised in 2023, with first-round payments eventually issued in September 2025.
