Facebook users are starting to get their share of a huge settlement for privacy violations by the social media giant that goes back more than 15 years.

Not everyone, however, is excited with their payouts, except maybe for the lawyers who initiated the lawsuit.

While the settlement was big, because of the number of claimants and the fact that the lawyers stand to take home nearly a quarter of the settlement, the payoffs are capped at $38.36 per user. Some Facebook users who signed up before the August deadline to be part of the payout are getting less than $5.

One X user showed a payment that arrived through Zelle for $4.89. “I’ve had Facebook since 2006 so tell me why [t]his is all I got in the privacy settlement?! 😂”

Another user posted, “If you’re ever feeling worthless, realize that over a decade of your data being stolen is only worth $30. This should make you feel worse.” 

A user who says he has had a Facebook account since he was a college student in 2004 said of his $35.71 payment, “In case anyone wonders what two decades of privacy violations are worth … now you know.” 

Another person posted a photo of a $1.50 Costco hot dog and soda meal, joking that the user’s friends would know when the payout hit their account.

Facebook faced numerous lawsuits brought on behalf of users who alleged the social media company shared user data with advertisers and others without permission and did not sufficiently monitor and enforce third-party access or use of that data.

One of those suits involved now-defunct Cambridge Analytica, which collected the data of up to 87 million Facebook users. President Trump’s 2016 campaign hired Cambridge Analytica to target voters.

Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, underwent a four-hour grilling in 2018 by a joint session of the Senate commerce and judiciary committees after the incident was uncovered.

“It was my mistake, and I’m sorry,” Mr. Zuckerberg said in a long opening statement. “I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here.” 

The lawsuits were consolidated into one large class action in the District Court for the Northern District of California. The settlement was approved in 2023 with Meta, Facebook’s parent company, not having to admit any liability or wrongdoing.

Claimants started receiving email messages this month if they were approved to be part of the settlement. The payments will continue into November.