Facebook $9.5 Million Privacy Lawsuit Settlement Approved by Appeals Court

At least one class-action lawsuit over privacy is going Facebook's way, well, as much as it can. A US federal court approved a $9.5 million, EUR7.31 million settlement over Beacon, an ad program Facebook debuted in 2008 and quickly shut down as it invaded users' privacy.

Still, people sued and the lawsuit was given class action status. Facebook settled back in 2009, but the settlement was appealed, leading to it spend several more years in court. The appeals court has now approved the settlement.

Some $3 million, EUR2.31 million of the total amount will go to the lawyers, the users that filed the lawsuit and to cover costs, while the rest will be administered by an independent foundation designed to promote online privacy.

More recently, another settlement, over sponsored stories, was rejected by the judge who was not satisfied with the way the settlement figure, $10 million, EUR7.7 million was unjustified.