Boston Globe VPPA Settlement

This settlement only affects people who had a Facebook account from February 2, 2020, through May 25, 2023. If you did not have a Facebook account during that time period this settlement does not pertain to you.

A settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit against Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC. The class action lawsuit accuses Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC of disclosing its subscribers’ personally identifiable information (“PII”) to Facebook via the Facebook Tracking Pixel without consent in violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act (the “VPPA”). The VPPA defines PII to include information which identifies a person as having requested or obtained specific video materials or services from a video tape service provider. Defendant denies that it violated any law, but has agreed to the settlement to avoid the uncertainties and expenses associated with continuing the case.

You are included if you are a person in the United States who, from February 5, 2020, to and through May 25, 2023, have or had a Facebook account, a digital subscription to the Boston Globe, or a home delivery subscription to the Boston Globe that includes digital access and who viewed videos on Boston Globe’s website.

Persons included in the Settlement will be eligible to receive a pro rata (meaning equal) portion of the Settlement Fund, which Class Counsel anticipates to be approximately $20-40. Persons included in the Settlement will also be eligible to receive in kind relief as an extension of any existing digital subscription to the Boston Globe enjoyed by you for a maximum of 7 days past its current expiration date for no additional payment. The Settlement also requires Defendant to suspend operation of the Facebook Tracking Pixel on any pages on its website that both include video content and have a URL that substantially identifies the video content viewed, unless and until the VPPA is amended, repealed, or otherwise invalidated (including by judicial decision on the use of website pixel technology by the United States Supreme Court, any federal court of appeals, a U.S. federal district court in Massachusetts, or a Massachusetts state court of general jurisdiction), or until Defendant obtains VPPA-compliant consent for the disclosure of the video content viewed to Facebook.

Your Legal Rights and Options in This Lawsuit

Submit a Claim Form by October 23, 2023	This is the only way to receive a payment.
Exclude Yourself by August 11, 2023	The exclusion deadline was August 11, 2023.
Object by August 11, 2023	The objection deadline was August 11, 2023.
Go to the Hearing on September 7, 2023	Final approval of the Settlement was granted by the Court following the hearing.
Do Nothing	You won’t get a share of the Settlement benefits and will give up your rights to sue the Defendant about the claims in this case.

Read this website and the Notice carefully. Your legal rights are affected whether you act, or don’t act.

Your rights and options—and the deadlines to exercise them—are explained in the FAQs.