A lawsuit filed against Park Mobile, operator of a mobile parking app, has finally been settled. If you are one of the 21 million Parkmobile users who were allegedly involved in a data breach, you may be entitled to a portion of the $32.8 million settlement.

The app suffered a data breach in 2021, which ultimately exposed the data of 21 million app users. Two months after the company announced the breach, a class action lawsuit was filed in Georgia. The lawsuit accused Park Mobile of knowingly using a “flawed security system” to operate its business and failing to protect customer data.

In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs alleged that they experienced “anomalous activity” on their linked PayPal accounts, and in some cases, information on unrelated apps like Netflix was altered.

As with most class action lawsuits, Park Mobile has not admitted wrongdoing, but instead, the company and plaintiffs' attorneys have likely agreed to a settlement to avoid a lengthy trial.

The lawsuit alleges that the compromised information included passwords, birth dates, license plate numbers, and mailing addresses. At the time of the breach, Park Mobile had operations in 32 states and over 550 cities.

Parkmobile is a phone app that allows users to digitally pay for parking; it was launched in 2009 and now offers a business aspect of parking reservations and managing parking locations. It is integrated with Google Maps.

The data breach was announced by the company in March 2021.

“We recently became aware of a cybersecurity incident related to a vulnerability in third-party software we use. In response, we immediately began working with a leading cybersecurity firm to investigate and address the incident. Out of an abundance of caution, we also notified the appropriate law enforcement authorities.”

In a later update, the company stated that no sensitive information was leaked and that encrypted passwords were accessed, but not the encryption keys used to read them.

The incident announcement page now links to a reconciliation page.

Since settling the lawsuit this month, a website has been set up for claimants to submit claims and have settlement questions answered.

Most affected people will have received an email or physical mailing notifying them that they are eligible for payment. That notice will include a notice ID and a confirmation code.

However, if you have not been contacted or have lost your ID, you can use the Settlement website to contact the Settlement Administrator or look up your login information.

This has a time limit. Online claims close at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on March 5, 2025, while mailed claims must be postmarked by March 5, 2025.

The lawsuit settled for $32.8 million, but only $9 million will be available for cash payments, capped at $25 per class member.

If a cash payment is not accepted, Park Mobile will provide a $1 credit code that can be used on the app after the billing period ends. This code can only be entered into the app and used for one year. The maximum payment amount is capped at $21 million, or enough for each person affected to receive a credit.

According to the settlement website, payments can be made months in advance. Final approval is set for March 13, 2025, although an appeal could extend that date.

“Also, depending on the number of claims submitted and whether there are any appeals, it may take some time for all claims to be processed,” the site states.

If you cannot wait or are not interested in credit or cash, you may submit a letter requesting exclusion from the settlement by February 3, 2025.