California residents who visited Forbes websites between Dec. 20, 2023 and June 11, 2026 can claim a share of a $10 million tracker-privacy settlement, and the claim deadline is Nov. 9. Each valid claimant gets a pro rata slice of what is left after fees and costs. The notice does not name a dollar amount per person.
The case is Berman v. Forbes Media LLC, No. 3:24-cv-09287-WHO, in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. Plaintiffs Domenica Berman and Abygael Piehl say Forbes let third-party trackers on its sites collect visitors’ IP addresses and other identifiers. The settlement website and the court’s order say the deal is not an admission of liability, fault or wrongdoing by Forbes.
The class is California residents who accessed Forbes-owned or controlled sites in that window and had their IP addresses or unique identifiers shared with third parties through Forbes’ trackers. A person in California who read Forbes articles in those 2.5 years is the person this was written for. The question to settle now is whether to file, since a claim is the only route to payment.
Retirement deadlines, in your inbox: Miss an enrollment or claim deadline and the money can be gone. The Retirement Money Brief keeps you ahead of the ones that matter, every weekday.
Get the Retirement Money Brief →
We may earn a commission from links on this page.
What the lawsuit says Forbes did
The plaintiffs invoke the California Invasion of Privacy Act and the state’s Unfair Competition Law. They say the trackers on Forbes sites worked like pen registers or trap-and-trace devices, which are devices that capture identifying information about a communication. Judge William H. Orrick’s preliminary approval order notes that whether the trackers fit that definition is an open legal question.
The Record reported that the plaintiffs say the trackers were developed by LinkedIn and Microsoft and sent identifiers to those companies and others, who used the data to build profiles of browsing and shopping habits. The order itself does not name the companies. Forbes did not comment when The Record asked.
Forbes agreed to pay $10 million and to change how it operates. The company will give users greater notice of its use of trackers and add website language giving California residents more control over how data is collected and shared. The settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing.
The deal moved quickly. Forbes and the plaintiffs reached a preliminary agreement that became public in early May 2026, and Judge Orrick granted preliminary approval June 11, 2026. That June date is also the end of the class period, so visits after it are not covered.
Some people are left out of the class even if they visited. Excluded are Forbes’ affiliates and their officers, directors and employees, certain family members of Forbes officers and directors, employees of class counsel’s firms and the assigned judge’s immediate family. Anyone who validly opted out by Sept. 24 is also excluded.
How much a Forbes claim could be worth
The fund is a $10 million, non-reversionary common fund, so none of it returns to Forbes. Administration costs, court-awarded attorneys’ fees and costs, and service awards come out before class members are paid. Class counsel, Susman Godfrey and Don Bivens PLLC, may ask for up to 25 percent of the fund, or $2.5 million, plus costs, and $2,500 for each of the two class representatives.
The court estimated that the class has about 3.9 million members. The Record reported that estimated payments run from $32 to $189 each, depending on how many people file claims. That range is an estimate from the time of the deal, and the notice itself commits to no figure.
The arithmetic cuts both ways. A small number of claims means larger shares, and a large number means smaller ones. The administrator’s reminder emails go out 30 and 7 days before the deadline to class members who received notice and have not filed.
Filing the Nov. 9 claim
A claim can be submitted online or mailed with a postmark of Nov. 9. The preliminary approval order says a claim is filed electronically if the claimant’s IP address matches Forbes’ records, and others use a paper form. The administrator, Kroll Settlement Administration, answers questions at (833) 930-0568.
Paper claims go to Berman, et al. v. Forbes Media LLC, c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC, P.O. Box 225391, New York, NY 10150-5391. The long-form notice says the only way to receive a payment is to submit a valid and timely proof of claim.
The date to exclude oneself or object was Sept. 24, and it has passed. That leaves class members two choices: file a claim or do nothing. Doing nothing means no payment.
Notice to the class runs through email and advertising. Forbes had to hand the administrator the contact details of known class members, who receive email notice, and a digital campaign was designed to reach at least 70 percent of the class. The order names Hon. Suzanne H. Segal as the mediator in the case.
The Dec. 2 hearing and the wait for payment
Judge Orrick will hold the final approval hearing Dec. 2 at 2:00 p.m. Pacific time in Courtroom 2 on the 17th floor of the Phillip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco. The site says the date may change. Payments follow final approval.
The long notice does not say when checks would go out. Class members who file in October or early November will wait through the hearing and whatever follows it. The step that matters before then is getting a claim in by Nov. 9.
Did a Forbes visit from California make the class?
The Forbes money is split pro rata among valid claims, and the only route in is a timely claim. A California reader who assumes a browsing settlement pays automatically will find that the Nov. 9 deadline passes without a dollar.
The Settlement & Refund Recovery System includes the four-date rule for reading a settlement notice, a step-by-step filing walkthrough and a claim log and payment tracker. Inside, the claim log records which settlements were filed and when, so a December hearing and a later payment do not get lost.
Log the Forbes claim with a settlement tracker and filing guide →
More Financial Reading
- 21 Ways to Stretch a $2,087 Social Security Check
- 15 Places to Find Your Share of the $4.25 Billion States Give Back
- The New $6,000 Senior Deduction and 14 More Tax Moves for Retirees
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
