Meta to pay $1 billion settlement in Cambridge Analytica data access class action caseFacebook owner Meta has agreed to pay $US725 million (about $1 billion) to resolve a class action lawsuit that accused the social media giant of allowing third parties, including Cambridge Analytica, to access users' personal information.Key points:- Revelations emerged in 2018 that Facebook had allowed Cambridge Analytica to access data of 87 million users- The company obtained information from users through a researcher who was allowed to harvest data- Meta did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlementThe proposed settlement, which was disclosed in a US court filing late on Thursday, would resolve a long-running lawsuit prompted by revelations in 2018 that Facebook allowed the British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica to access the data of as many as 87 million users.Cambridge Analytica, now defunct, worked for Donald Trump's successful presidential campaign in 2016, and gained access to the personal information from millions of Facebook accounts for the purposes of voter profiling and targeting.The ensuing Cambridge Analytica scandal fuelled government investigations into its privacy practices, lawsuits and a high-profile US congressional hearing where Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg was grilled by lawmakers.Thursday's settlement resolved claims by Facebook users that the company violated various federal and state laws by letting app developers and business partners harvest their personal data without their consent on a widespread basis."