Meta agreed to a record $1.4 billion settlement with Texas on Tuesday over claims that the Facebook and Instagram-parent company illegally collected users’ facial and biometric data.
It’s the largest privacy settlement by a U.S. state.
“This historic settlement demonstrates our commitment to standing up to the world’s biggest technology companies and holding them accountable for breaking the law and violating Texans’ privacy rights,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement.
Paxton brought the suit against Meta in February 2022 for unlawfully capturing Texas users’ biometric data without obtaining their informed consent as required by law.
Meta automatically turned on a new feature in 2011 that made it easier for users to “tag” photographs with the names of people in the photo, but failed to explain how the feature worked. For more than a decade, the company ran facial recognition software on nearly every face in photographs, the AG office said. That, according to Paxton, violated Texas’ Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, a law that was passed in 2009 and can impose penalties up to $25,000 per violation.
As part of the resolution, Meta did not admit to any wrongdoing. The company, which will pay out the funds over the next five years, stopped using its facial recognition software in 2021.
“We are pleased to resolve this matter, and look forward to exploring future opportunities to deepen our business investments in Texas, including potentially developing data centers,” a Meta spokesperson said in an statement.
States have been cracking down on Big Tech’s potential abuses of privacy. Meta previously settled a similar suit with the state of Illinois for $550 million. According to The New York Times, it’s still facing more than a dozen lawsuits by the attorneys general of 45 states and D.C. for knowingly using features to hook children on its platforms.
A similar case that Paxton opened against Google in 2022 is still pending.
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