Military.com Privacy Settlement

A Court authorized the Notice because you have a right to know about a proposed Settlement of this class action lawsuit and about all of your options, before the Court decides whether to give final approval to the Settlement. The Notice explains the lawsuit, the Settlement, and your legal rights.

The Honorable Jennifer L. Barron of the Circuit Court of DuPage County, Illinois, 18th Judicial Circuit, is overseeing this case. The case is called Young v. Military Advantage, Inc. d/b/a Military.com, Case No. 2023LA000535. The people who sued are called the Plaintiffs. The Defendant is Military Advantage, Inc. d/b/a Military.com.

In a class action, one or more people called the class representatives (in this case, Darrick Young, Jeremy Lam, and David Ramirez) sue on behalf of a group or a “class” of people who have similar claims. In a class action, the court resolves the issues for all class members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Class.

This lawsuit claims that Defendant violated the Video Privacy Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2710, et seq. (“VPPA”) by disclosing its subscribers’ personally identifiable information (“PII”) to Facebook via the Facebook Tracking Pixel without consent. The VPPA defines PII to include information which identifies a person as having requested or obtained specific video materials or services from a video tape service provider. The Defendant denies that it violated any law and denies that it disclosed any PII of its subscribers to Facebook. The Court has not determined who is right. Rather, the Parties have agreed to settle the lawsuit to avoid the uncertainties and expenses associated with ongoing litigation.

The Court has not decided whether the Plaintiffs or the Defendant should win this case. Instead, both sides agreed to a Settlement. That way, they avoid the uncertainties and expenses associated with ongoing litigation, and Class Members will get compensation sooner rather than, if at all, after the completion of a trial.

The Settlement Class is defined as:

All digital subscribers to Military.com who have a Facebook account, in the United States, and who accessed a video through the Military.com website from the same browser where the individual accessed his or her Facebook account from June 8, 2020, through November 1, 2022.

If you did not have an active Facebook account at the time you subscribed to and watched a video on Military.com you are not a class member.

Monetary Relief: A Settlement Fund will be created totaling up to $7,350,000.00. Settlement Class Member cash payments, and the cost to administer the settlement, the cost to inform people about the settlement, attorneys’ fees (inclusive of litigation costs), and awards to the Class Representatives will come out of this fund (see FAQ 13).

Prospective Relief: In addition to this monetary relief, the Settlement also requires Defendant to suspend operation of the Facebook Tracking Pixel on any pages on its website that include video content, within 45 days of the Preliminary Approval Order, for a period of at least two years from November 1, 2022, which is the date Military.com removed the Pixel.

A detailed description of the settlement benefits can be found in the Settlement Agreement.

Timely and valid claims received a $30.00 cash payment.

Payments to timely and valid claims were issued on February 16, 2024. If your claim was approved, you were sent a payment email to the email address provided on your claim form. You will have the option to elect to receive your payment by PayPal, Venmo, ACH, Zelle, or a physical check.

If you did not receive this email, or are ultimately unable to redeem your electronic payment, your payment will be issued as a physical check after the electronic payment campaign has closed.

To receive a payment, you must have submitted a Claim Form by October 24, 2023. As this deadline has passed, it is too late to file a claim.

Unless you exclude yourself (opt out), you are choosing to remain in the Settlement Class. As the Settlement has been approved and is now final, all Court orders will apply to you and legally bind you. You have given up your right to sue Defendant for the claims this Settlement resolves. The Settlement Agreement describes the specific claims you are giving up against the Defendant. You will be “releasing” the Defendant and certain of its affiliates described in Section 1.25 of the Settlement Agreement. Unless you exclude yourself (see FAQ 14), you are “releasing” the claims, regardless of whether you submit a claim or not. The Settlement Agreement is available here.

The Settlement Agreement describes the released claims with specific descriptions, so read it carefully. If you have any questions you can talk to the lawyers listed in FAQ 12 for free or you can, of course, talk to your own lawyer if you have questions about what this means.

If you do nothing, you won’t get any benefits from this Settlement. But, unless you exclude yourself, you won’t be able to start a lawsuit or be part of any other lawsuit against the Defendant for the claims being resolved by this Settlement.

The Court has appointed Philip L. Fraietta, Joshua D. Arisohn, and Christopher R. Reilly of Bursor & Fisher, P.A. and Gary M. Klinger, Alex Honeycutt, and Alexander Wolf of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman PLLC to be the attorneys representing the Settlement Class. They are called “Class Counsel.” They believe, after conducting an extensive investigation, that the Settlement Agreement is fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the Settlement Class. You will not be charged for these lawyers. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer in this case, you may hire one at your expense.

Class Counsel’s attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses will be paid from the Settlement Fund in an amount of $2,450,000, which has been determined and awarded by the Court.

The Class Representatives will be paid Service Awards from the Settlement Fund for helping to bring and settle the case. The court has approved $5,000 to Class Representative David Ramirez, and $2,500 to each of the Class Representatives Darrick Young and Jeremy Lam.

To exclude yourself from the Settlement you must have mailed a written notice of intent to opt out by October 9, 2023. The Settlement has been approved and it is no longer possible to opt out.

No. Unless you exclude yourself, you give up any right to sue the Defendant for the claims being resolved by this Settlement.

No. If you exclude yourself, do not submit a Claim Form to ask for benefits.

To object to the Settlement you must have submitted written notice in accordance with the instructions provided in the Settlement Agreement no later than October 9, 2023. The Settlement has been approved and it is no longer possible to object to or appeal the Settlement.

Objecting simply means telling the Court that you don’t like something about the Settlement. You can object only if you stay in the Class. Excluding yourself from the Class is telling the Court that you don’t want to be part of the Class. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object because the case no longer affects you.

The Court held the Final Approval Hearing at 9:00 a.m. on November 9, 2023, in Courtroom 2018 at the DuPage County Courthouse, 505 North County Farm Road, Wheaton, IL 60187. The purpose of the hearing was for the Court to determine whether to approve the Settlement as fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interests of the Class; to consider the Class Counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees and expenses; and to consider the request for service awards to the Class Representatives. At that hearing, the Court was available to hear any objections and arguments concerning the fairness of the Settlement.

The Court granted Final Approval of the Settlement on November 9, 2023. It is no longer possible to come to the hearing.

The Court granted Final Approval of the Settlement on November 9, 2023. It is no longer possible to speak at the hearing.

These FAQs summarize the Settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement. You can get a copy of the Settlement Agreement here. You may also write with questions to Military.com Privacy Settlement, P.O. Box 2239, Portland, OR 97208-2239. You can call the Settlement Administrator at 1-877-352-0889 or Class Counsel at 1-646-837-7150 if you have any questions. Before doing so, however, please read these FAQs carefully. You may also find additional information elsewhere on this website.