When will Facebook settlement payments be sent out? Here’s what we know

(NEXSTAR) – You can submit a claim in just a couple minutes for a piece of the massive $725 million Facebook settlement, but it will take much longer to get your payout.

Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has agreed to settle the class action lawsuit, which claims the social media network allowed users’ personal data to be shared with third parties, the most famous being Cambridge Analytica, a consulting firm that supported Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. 

You don’t need to determine if your data was among the shared information to qualify. The criteria is pretty simple: “If you were a Facebook user in the United States between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022, inclusive, you may be eligible for a cash payment,” the settlement details state.

Claims can be submitted online or by mail through Aug. 25, 2023, and the process is fairly quick and simple. However, eligible recipients won’t receive their payment imminently.

After the claim deadline, there is still a final settlement hearing, which is scheduled for Sept. 7, 2023 at 1 p.m. Pacific Time. It’s not clear the exact date payments will be issued, but the soonest they could be sent out is after the September court date.

Even if the judge gives the final OK at that hearing, there is still the possibility for appeals, the settlement page warns. If there were to be an appeal, it’s not clear how long it would take to resolve.

“Settlement payments will be distributed as soon as possible if the Court grants Final Approval of the Settlement and after any appeals are resolved,” reads the settlement page.

Once all the necessary steps are completed, the $725 million sum will shrink quite a bit before it hits your bank account. The amount each person gets will vary based on the length of time they had a Facebook account, but an expert told Nexstar he anticipated the higher end of payments might be in the “triple digits,” with many more receiving less than $100.