Technologies

Check Your Bank Accounts, You Might Spot a Deposit From a Facebook Lawsuit

The payments average about $30, and will be paid by the method you chose when you filed a claim.

Read your email carefully this week: On Monday morning, I received an email from PayPal with the enticing subject line, «Your Facebook Consumer Privacy User Profile Litigation Settlement Payment.» And no, it wasn’t a scam. I opened it to find my PayPal account had been sent $37.55 as my share of Facebook’s $725 million privacy settlement.

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I was glad I spotted the email, because the money would’ve sat there in PayPal until I made a PayPal purchase. Instead, I chose to transfer it to my bank, where it’s expected to show up by Thursday.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that if you neglected to file a claim by the 2023 deadline, you’re out of luck.

This all stems from what might be the largest privacy settlement in US history: Facebook’s parent company, Meta, is paying $725 million to settle claims involving the sharing of user data with third-party companies.

Back in 2018, Facebook was accused of improperly disclosing users’ personal information. Cambridge Analytica, a UK political consulting firm with ties to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, ended up with the data of as many as 87 million Facebook users. Meta denied any wrongdoing, saying in a 2023 statement that it agreed to the deal because «it’s in the best interest of our community and shareholders.»

A representative for Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Payment amounts differ

The official website for the lawsuit has more information about settlement payments. It notes that settlement payments are only being sent to class members with approved claims. Distribution of the payments will continue over the next 10 weeks. If your claim is approved, a notification will be sent to your email a few days before your payment is issued.

If you are unsure of the status of your claim form and would like to check, you can send an email to the Settlement Administrator at info@facebookuserprivacysettlement.com, but you must include your Claim ID.

Some recipients will be paid via direct deposit, Venmo, Zelle, a mailed check or a virtual prepaid MasterCard, based on the method they chose when they filed their claim. I certainly didn’t remember which method I chose back then, but the PayPal email jogged my memory.

Your settlement amount might be slightly different from mine. The website says authorized claimants receive one point for each month in which they had an active Facebook account during the class period. The number of points helps determine the amount you’re paid.

According to CBS News, the average payment amount is $29.43, and the maximum payout is $38.36.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Sept. 16, #358

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Sept. 16, No. 358

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition has a really odd green group — simple once you get it, of course. If you’re struggling but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Fore!

Green group hint: Name of a league.

Blue group hint: Subjective scoring.

Purple group hint: Drinking vessel.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Golf scoring terms.

Green group: WNBA.

Blue group: Sports that have judges.

Purple group: ____ cup.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is golf scoring terms. The four answers are birdie, bogey, eagle and par.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is WNBA. The four answers are Association, Basketball, National and Women’s.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is sports that have judges. The four answers are diving, figure skating, gymnastics and skateboarding.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ____ cup. The four answers are America’s, Ryder, Stanley and World.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, Sept. 16

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Sept. 16.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s Mini Crossword plays off some fun city names in various states. I knew two of them, but 8-Across stumped me until I completed the Down clues. Need help? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Catch, as a ride
Answer: HITCH

6A clue: Where Moscow (pop. 25,435) can be found in the U.S.
Answer: IDAHO

7A clue: Where Paris (pop. 24,476) can be found in the U.S.
Answer: TEXAS

8A clue: Where Belgrade (pop. 3,250) and Stockholm (pop. 250) can be found in the U.S.
Answer: MAINE

9A clue: Letters after kays
Answer: ELS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: «I’ll have another card,» in blackjack
Answer: HITME

2D clue: Optimal
Answer: IDEAL

3D clue: Some rides from the airport
Answer: TAXIS

4D clue: Jackie of martial arts films
Answer: CHAN

5D clue: Garden watering aid
Answer: HOSE

Technologies

Remember That TikTok Ban? This Week’s Deadline Brings Hints of a Deal

The Trump administration waxes optimistic once again about getting to a resolution for TikTok in the US.

The Trump administration is working on a deal with China to determine TikTok’s fate, which could be finalized by the end of this week, according to reports citing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

President Trump has plans to meet on Friday with China’s President Xi Jinping, and the two are expected to discuss the fate of the Chinese-owned social media platform. That means the deadline of Wednesday, Sept. 17, may pass before there’s a definitive resolution on the matter. The key question is whether ownership of TikTok will transfer to a US-based company. The platform could shut down temporarily in the US, as it has before, in accordance with a federal law passed last year in response to national security and privacy considerations.

That law requires TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the social media service to a US-based company or essentially be shut down in the US. The initial deadline, set for January, has been extended twice already by the Trump administration as it cited progress on the matter.

Bessent said on Monday that the two countries have reached a preliminary deal and «commercial terms have been agreed upon.»

Neither TikTok nor the Treasury Department responded immediately to requests for comment.

An agreement over TikTok has been complicated by ongoing trade warring between the US and China and a new ruling against US-based Nvidia. China claims Nvidia has violated anti-monopoly laws in that country.

Skepticism about a TikTok deal

Even with the administration’s suggestion that a deal is imminent, it’s possible that TikTok’s future could remain in limbo even longer.

«I have seen the TikTok negotiations stall and shift so many times that I am not holding my breath on a deal being completed this week,» said Star Kashman, founder of Cyber Law Firm, who’s been following the TikTok saga. «Every time we hear about progress or a framework getting reached, some external complication throws the whole negotiation back into limbo.»

Tariffs and the Nvidia claims have further complicated what was already a complex negotiation over TikTok, she said. «It is likely that too much is already at play, including ByteDance’s potential obligations to the Chinese government, national security concerns, and privacy issues, as well as the desire to keep TikTok’s addictive algorithm, without isolating and segregating US users.»

Kashman said that none of the parties have been transparent about what would happen to TikTok under US ownership, including addressing reports that a US-only TIkTok app would be offered

Negotiation factors

If a deal is reached to keep TikTok available in the United States, it could be just the start of wrangling over the platform’s future, said one expert on US-China relations.

«The Chinese generally look at the signing of a deal as the beginning of negotiations, not the end,» said Usha Haley, Barton Distinguished Chair in International Business at Wichita State University. «So the devil will be in the details as they unfold over several years.»

Haley said that any deal would be subject to congressional scrutiny and could set a precedent for how future foreign-based apps operate in the US.

The Trump administration would likely insist on US-based storage of TikTok data, independent oversight and insulation from Chinese legal and political demands, while China’s government would want to protect its tech champion and maintain cultural influence, she said.

Whatever requirements the US imposes, Haley said, China might still find a way to maintain some control over TikTok by «keeping some possibly secret doors and trapdoors open for intervention in the future, if needed.»