The settlement comes a few months after Judge William Alsup barred the plaintiffs from looking for financial compensation after the main plaintiff couldn't show that he'd had to pay expenses as a result of the breach.

There's no guarantee the settlement will go forward as-is. That will depend on Judge Alsup's approval. If it does, though, it could reduce the chances of intruders making off with vast sums of personal data before Facebook locks things down. There's still a long way to go before Facebook can claim to have meaningfully improved security -- there have been much larger reported lapses in the months since. This might be a good start, though.