Meta Platforms Inc settled a $37.5 million lawsuit accusing Facebook’s parent company of violating users’ privacy by tracking their movements through their smartphones without their permission.
A preliminary settlement of the proposed class action was filed in federal court in San Francisco on Monday, and it must be approved by a judge.
It resolved claims that Facebook violated California law and its own privacy policy by gathering data from users who turned off Location Services on their mobile devices.
While the users stated that they did not want to share their locations with Facebook, the company inferred where they were based on their IP addresses and used that information to send them targeted advertising.
The settlement announced on Monday applies to people in the United States who used Facebook after January 30, 2015.
Meta denied any wrongdoing in agreeing to the settlement. It did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
In June 2018, Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before the United States Congress that the Menlo Park, California-based company uses location data “to help advertisers reach people in specific areas.”
It stated that users who dined at specific restaurants might receive posts from friends who also dined there, or advertisements from businesses that wanted to provide services nearby.
The lawsuit was filed in November of 2018. According to settlement papers, plaintiffs’ lawyers may seek up to 30% of Monday’s settlement for legal fees.