GameStop Might've Sold Your Purchase Data to Facebook: How to Claim a Piece of the Settlement
Have you bought something from video game retailer GameStop in the past five years? Did you have a Facebook account when you did so? According to an email I received awhile back, that includes me. If it includes you as well, you can claim your own piece of a brewing settlement from the company, and you've still got a few weeks to do so.
Last month, GameStop agreed to pay $4.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit accusing it of violating privacy laws by tracking and sharing customer info with Facebook. While the company has denied any wrongdoing in the matter, it is nonetheless now accepting claims, with estimates suggesting that hundreds of thousands of consumers could be eligible.
While GameStop -- best known for its brick-and-mortar shop locations -- has seen its fortunes decline in recent years as commerce has migrated online, it still does considerable business: about $3.8 billion in 2024. Facebook, meanwhile, doesn't say much about how much consumer data it acquires from places like GameStop but those kinds of transactions have long been key to its business, helping to create targeted advertising on the platform.
That sort of practice now appears to have run afoul of certain privacy laws, prompting the lawsuit that GameStop is working to settle. Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about the settlement and, for more, find out if you qualify for 23andMe's big privacy settlement or the Fortnite in-game purchases settlement.
Why did GameStop get sued?
The lawsuit at the heart of this situation, Aldana v. GameStop, alleged that the company used a tracking pixel on its website to collect information on specific consumer purchases, which it then sold to Facebook. This, the suit argued, violated the Video Privacy Protection Act, a 1988 law designed to prevent the "wrongful disclosure" of rental or sales records for certain audiovisual media, including video games.
What prompted the creation of a law like that back then? The public disclosure of -- here's a throwback -- Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork's video store rental records. While there was nothing scandalous, or even terribly interesting in those records, the release of the information highlighted Bork's claims that Americans only had privacy rights directly granted to them by legislation. Congress certainly seemed to get that point, passing the VPPA little more than a year later.
In addition to the consumer payouts, this settlement also requires GameStop to stop using tracking pixels on its online storefront.
Who is eligible for the GameStop-Facebook settlement?
To qualify for this settlement, you need to have bought something from GameStop's website any time between Aug. 18, 2020, and April 7, 2025. At the time of that purchase, you must also have had an active Facebook account using your real name that was public. Proof of purchase is not required.
When is the deadline for filing a claim?
You have until Aug. 15 -- about a month and a half -- to file a claim and opt in to this settlement.
To do that, complete the official form on the settlement website.
How much can I get from the GameStop-Facebook settlement?
Unlike other notable settlements that can sometimes pay out thousands of dollars, the offers from this settlement are much more modest. When filing a claim, you have the option of receiving a cash payment of $5 or a voucher to GameStop worth $10.
You can only get one payment per claim, even if you purchased multiple items from the GameStop website during the settlement period.
When will I get paid from the GameStop-Facebook settlement?
When those payments will go out isn't clear but it will be sometime after the final settlement hearing in the case on Sept. 18. Stayed tuned to this page for updates as information like this becomes available in the near future.
For more, here's everything to know about Apple's Siri privacy settlement.
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