How to Claim Your Share of Google's $23 Million Search Privacy Settlement

pcmag.com:

Google has agreed to pay $23 million to settle a class-action lawsuit(Opens in a new window) regarding unauthorized sharing of people's search data with third-party websites and companies, and we now have details about how consumers can cash in.

Well, cash in may be a generous description. The estimated payout per person is just $7.70.

The case has been bouncing around the courts for more than a decade, The New York Times reports(Opens in a new window), winding its way to the Supreme Court in 2019(Opens in a new window). The original settlement was $8.5 million, which would've resulted in about 4 cents per person, but has since been upped to $23 million.

Any US resident who clicked on a Google search result from Oct. 26, 2006, to Sept. 30, 2013, can file a claim for a piece of the settlement. To do so, visit the registration site(Opens in a new window) to receive a Class Member ID, which will be emailed to you.

From there, file an official claim on the website (or mail it in), where you will also select the payout method from a few options: Mastercard, Direct Deposit, Zelle, Venmo, or PayPal.

You must file a claim (or mail it in) by 11:50 p.m. Pacific Time on July 31, 2023. The final approval hearing for all the claims will take place on October 12, 2023. "Please check this website for updates," says Kroll, the organization handling the settlement claims.

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