Meta has agreed to pay $1.4 billion to the state of Texas in order to resolve a lawsuit that accused the company of illegally using facial recognition technology. The suit alleges that Meta used this tech to collect the biometric data of millions of Texans without consent. The agreement marks the largest financial settlement ever paid out to a single state.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2022 and was the first big case brought under the state’s Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act, which was put into place back in 2009. A provision of this law mandates up to $25,000 per violation and Texas accused Meta of violating the statute “billions of times” via photos and videos that users uploaded to Facebook that were tagged without consent.
Additionally, the original suit could have led to an additional $10,000 per alleged violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. In other words, Meta just saved itself a bunch of money, considering the sheer number of alleged violations and a maximum financial penalty of $35,000 each.
🚨BREAKING NEWS: We have secured a $1.4 billion settlement with Meta to stop the company’s practice of capturing and using the personal biometric data of millions of Texans without the authorization required by law.
This settlement is the largest ever obtained from an action… pic.twitter.com/AkOppAGO0K— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) July 30, 2024
A spokesperson for Meta told Reuters that it’s happy the matter is settled and that the company is “exploring future opportunities to deepen our business investments in Texas, including potentially developing data centers.” The company, however, continues to deny any wrongdoing, though it has shut down its automated facial recognition system.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is taking something of a victory lap, declaring in an official statement that the state is fully committed to “standing up to the world’s biggest technology companies and holding them accountable for breaking the law and violating” privacy rights. Texas and Meta reached this settlement just weeks before a court trial was set to begin.
“Facebook will no longer take advantage of people and their children with the intent to turn a profit at the expense of one’s safety and well-being,” Paxton said when the suit was originally filed. “This is yet another example of Big Tech’s deceitful business practices and it must stop.”
This isn’t the first time Meta has had to issue a large payout to a state regarding the alleged collection of biometric data. The company agreed to pay Illinois $650 million back in 2020 to settle a similar class action suit. That suit alleged that the company had violated a privacy law that requires companies to get explicit consent before collecting biometric data from users. Once again, Meta denied any wrongdoing.
Source: www.engadget.com