Yes, facebook may owe you $10; that email isn’t a scam

Million and millions of U.S. Facebook users
received an email last weekend that read
LEGAL NOTICE OF SETTLEMENT OF CLASS
ACTION – just like that, in all caps. It says
that “a federal court authorized this notice,”
and that it’s “not a solicitation from a
lawyer.”

http://www.webpronews.com/yes-facebook-may-owe-you-10-that-email-isnt-a-scam-2013-02

It also tells you that you may be entitled to up to
$10, coming directly from the deep pockets of
Facebook.

Although it may sound like a scam (in fact it really,
really sounds like a scam), you can rest assured
that it is 100% legit. You can proceed with your
claim without fear – but you may not want to.


This past weekend, another large group of Facebook users received the
Settlement email, which stems from an ongoing class action lawsuit that
was first filed in early 2012. Facebook settled the lawsuit, which claimed
that the company had infringed upon the privacy rights of users when
they used their likenesses, photos, and activity in Sponsored Stories ads
without consent, compensation, or the ability to opt-out.

The initial settlement was rejected, however, and Facebook was forced
to rework the terms. In December 2012, a judge issued a preliminary
ruling approving the new terms: a $20 million settlement that will see
the majority handed out to users or to various charities and advocacy
groups. It all depends on how many claims are filed.


What Facebook has done, in the simplest of terms, is create
a giant fund that can be used to pay class members. If you
received an email, it means that you are eligible to sign on
as a class member because your activity or likeness was
used in a Sponsored Story prior to December 3rd, 2012. The
amount that each claimant will receive depends on how
many people jump in the pool. If too many people file a
claim, and it’s “economically infeasible” to pay out everyone,
the fund will be distributed to around a dozen non-profits
who all operate to “teach adults and children how to use
social media technologies safely,” or to “protect the interest
of children.


They are:

Center for Democracy and Technology, Electronic Frontier
Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Joan Ganz Cooney
Center, Berkman Center for Internet and Society (Harvard
Law School), Information Law Institute (NYU Law School),
Berkeley Center for Law and Technology (Berkeley Law
School), Center for Internet and Society (Stanford Law
School), High Tech Law Institute (Santa Clara University
School of Law), Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood,
Consumers Federation of America, Consumer Privacy
Rights Fund, ConnectSafely.org, and WiredSafety.org.


If you received the settlement notice, you have five
options. You can either submit a claim, which
makes you eligible for the $10, but prevents you
from joining any other action against Facebook in
this realm. Or you can exclude yourself, which lets
you retain your ability to sue Facebook in matters
pertaining to Sponsored Stories. If you do nothing,
you give up your right to both the money and
future litigation.


There’s also options to object to the
settlement or attend a hearing, neither
of which will really be considered by
most users.


If you decide to file a claim, however, you should know that
you’ll be attesting to a few things that might be difficult to
attest to (for the more informed Facebook user). As
pointed out by Forbes, you’ll agree that you were “not
aware that Facebook could be paid a fee for displaying
actions such as these, along with my name and/or profile
picture, to my Facebook friends,” and that you were truly
“injured” by the display of your info in a Sponsored Story.
Anyway, all of the information you need to take any route
is available on a dedicated site for the
suit,fraleyfacebooksettlement.com


What’s just as interesting as the cy pres settlement
is the set of changes that Facebook has agreed to
implement as a result of the ruling. Facebook has
promised to add new language to its terms, making
Sponsored Stories easier to understand for the
average user. Facebook has also agreed to
implement better mechanisms for viewing past
activities that may have been featured in Sponsored
Stories, as well as set up tighter controls on what
appears in the future.


Here are all of those stipulations, as provided by the agreement in Fraley v.
Facebook:

Revise its terms of service (known as the “Statement of Rights and
Responsibilities” or “SRR”) to more fully explain the instances in which users
agree to the display of their names and profile pictures in connection with
Sponsored Stories

Create an easily accessible mechanism that enables users to view, on a going-
forward basis, the subset of their interactions and other content on Facebook that
have been displayed in Sponsored Stories (if any)
Develop settings that will allow users to prevent particular items or categories of
content or information related to them from being displayed in future Sponsored
Stories


Revise its SRR to confirm that minors represent that their parent or
legal guardian consents to the use of the minor’s name and profile
picture in connection with commercial, sponsored, or related content
Provide parents and legal guardians with additional information about
how advertising works on Facebook in its Family Safety Center and
provide parents and legal guardians with additional tools to control
whether their children’s names and profile pictures are displayed in
connection with Sponsored Stories
Add a control in minor users’ profiles that enables each minor user to
indicate that his or her parents are not Facebook users and, where a
minor user indicates that his or her parents are not on Facebook,
Facebook will make the minor ineligible to appear in Sponsored Stories
until he or she reaches the age of 18, until the minor changes his or her
setting to indicate that his or her parents are on Facebook, or until a
confirmed parental relationship with the minor user is established.


As far as the money goes, you have until May 2nd to
submit your claim. Or you can do nothing, of
course. Personally, I don’t think I can file a claim
that stipulates my ignorance on the fact that
Facebook was making money off of Sponsored
Stories. Plus, I don’t find myself feeling particularly
wronged by the concept of a Sponsored Story. And
in the end, filing a claim is simply more of a hassle
than it’s worth.


But if you completely disagree with me (as
I’m sure many do), and you received an email,
you can proceed with the knowledge that this
is all legit. Happy claims filing.


Yes, facebook may owe you $10; that email isn’t a scam

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Yes, facebook may owe you $10; that email isn’t a scam