So getting paid through a tech or social media settlement isn’t exactly free. It’s likely that the company made a mistake somehow and rightly owes you that money, but that’s certainly possible. feeling like getting free money. And if you’re already using the technology or platform, you might as well get paid for the problem.
Here are five important settlements you may want to look into – just to see if you owe any money.
YouTube
In 2019, Google was sued for allegedly collecting data on users under the age of 13. The lawsuit was amended and amended again repeatedly, and in January 2025 a judge finally ruled. Although the judge only agreed with some of the plaintiff’s claims, she ultimately ruled that Google knowingly “exhibited highly offensive behavior.” Now Google has agreed to a $30 million settlement (without admitting any wrongdoing), and a settlement claims website is now live.
So if you or your children watched YouTube videos between July 1, 2013 and April 1, 2020 and were under the age of 13 at the time, you should file a claim.
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AT&T
AT&T settled lawsuits this summer over data breaches between 2019 and 2024. If you’re an AT&T customer, you may be entitled to a $177 million share of the deal. The company said it would contact customers between August and October. If you haven’t been contacted it may be worth getting in touch to check. That’s also possible Check out a website dedicated to the settlementwith the proper forms, deadlines, and information you need to claim a settlement.
Almost everyone has used Facebook at some point, which means you may have to pay a fee. Payouts from the settlements related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal actually started rolling out last month and could continue for several weeks. There was a 2023 deadline to file a claim – to be honest, who could remember if they filed something two years ago – but those who get a payout should get an email alerting them to the fact that a payment is coming.
Amazon
The retail and technology giant agreed last month to pay $1.5 billion to an estimated 35 million customers over alleged deceptive practices related to Prime membership. You may qualify for a payment if you signed up as a Prime member between 2019 and 2025 And did this using one of the so-called ‘challenged enrollment streams’. Certain customers will be paid automatically, while others may receive a claim form from Amazon, depending on their eligibility.
For more information on the Amazon settlement payments, see Mashable’s coverage.
Anthropic
AI company Anthropic last month agreed to pay authors $1.5 billion over allegations that it used their work to train its model. So yes, you have to be one of the authors in the case to get paid by this settlement, but the Books3 dataset at issue in the case contains tens of thousands of works. However, the judge in the case did so reservations expressed about that settlement – ​​so it remains to be seen what will actually come of it.
In the meantime, more class action lawsuits against AI companies are likely to follow soon, including a recent case involving Apple and allegedly pirated books. You can check if your work is included in the infamous Books3 library at The Atlantic Ocean Searchable Database.
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