I recently deposited $36.29 directly from Meta and am wondering if I can keep it?
The company Facebook hired to manage the process says it can do so, with conditions.
The payment was made as a result of a class action settlement with social media company Meta. The complaint alleges that the company used users’ Facebook photos as part of its advertising tools without their consent.
“On January 8, MNP Ltd. became the class action claims administrator for the Meta Inc. (formerly Facebook) Sponsored Stories class action lawsuit,” MNP’s Nick Greenfield told CBC News in an emailed statement. spoke.
“Eligible Class Members must reside in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, or Newfoundland and Labrador during the Class Period (January 1, 2011 through May 31, 2014). Some of these members may currently reside in other states.”
Greenfield announced earlier this month that electronic transfers of $36.29 were made to people who submitted applications.
Privacy experts said the case took more than a decade to resolve and affected many people.
“The wheels of justice in Canada are turning pretty slowly, and when you look at the numbers of millions of people who use Facebook, you can see how many people could have been affected by this and how many people are actually When you look at the final number of people who are part of that class, , we’re talking in the thousands,” Sharon Polsky said in an interview Monday.
Polsky, president of the Privacy and Access Council of Canada, is optimistic that many people have questions.
“And it’s a good thing that there are so many scams and scams out there that a lot of people are wondering if this is legit or if it’s another scam.”
But Polsky still has unresolved concerns.
“Was an image of a child used? Was there notice? Did they know anything about it? And what happens? So whether they were old enough to actually have an account or not, they were a child at the time. There is a possibility that
A Facebook user in Calgary received two deposits, but initially didn’t know what they were used for.
“I thought it was a scam or something because they sell quite a few products on the marketplace,” Kathy Antaya told CBC News.
“So I threw the email in the trash, but I also saw a post[on social media]that they had received it. So I was like, ‘Oh, maybe it means something.’ So I checked my bank account and sure enough, I had two automatic deposits with the same amount. ”
not accepted in some cases
In some ways, Antaya said, this feels like a missed opportunity for the company.
“I think it’s good for companies to be held accountable, but what if people don’t know about it?” she wondered.
MNP’s Greenfield said a class action of this size would pose challenges because the administrator has paid out almost 900,000 claims.
“Individuals who did not reside in one of the four states during the class period do not meet the definition of class member and should not accept payments,” he wrote in a follow-up email.
If you have any questions, please contact the Billing Administrator directly at facebooksettlement@mnp.ca.
