NEWCASTLE (UK), October 9 - RAPSI. Facebook has proposed revised settlement terms in the lawsuit over personal data use in Sponsored Stories advertising and has offered a total of $10 million in damages to the injured parties, according to documents filed by Facebook with the US District Court in San Francisco.

Facebook users in the United States have accused the social networking service of breaking Californian laws by illegally publicizing users' "likes," and not giving users any way to opt out of this or any form of compensation.

Facebook attempted to settle the lawsuit filed in 2011 by giving the users control over how to use their names and "likes" in Sponsored Stories. They also offered to give $10 million to charity and $10 million to the plaintiffs' lawyers. Nevertheless, Judge Richard Seeborg turned down the proposals in August, criticizing them for lack of compensation to the users.

Under the revised settlement terms, Facebook will pay $10 million to the users instead of the charity donation. Each aggrieved party in the U.S. will be able to receive a lump-sum payment of up to $10, according to the document.

Facebook still undertakes to pay the $10 million in legal fees. In addition, it will amend the website operation guidelines and will ask for account-owners' consent to for their personal data to be used in advertising.

The plaintiffs have yet to comment on the proposals, which also need to be approved by the judge.

Sponsored Stories advertising is a Facebook premium product. It appeared in January 2011. The adverts contain the user's name and sometimes his or her profile picture.