Texas biometric data lawsuit: Meta agrees to pay $1.4bn over illegal use of facial-recognition tech
A logo of Meta Platforms Inc
American tech giant Meta on Tuesday (Jul 30) agreed to pay $1.4 billion to settlea lawsuit filed by the state ofTexasover the illegal collection of biometric data of millions of Texans using facial-recognition technology.
Meta will have to pay the amount over the next five years.
A spokesperson of the California-based company said it was happy to resolve the matter. The statement added the company was looking forward to"exploring future opportunities to deepen our business investments in Texas, including potentially developing data centers."
However, the company still denies any wrongdoing.
The lawsuit was filed under the 2009 biometric privacy law of Texas in 2022 and was the first major case to be filed under this legislation.
The law provides for fines and damages worth $25,000 per violation.
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The amount marks the largest accord ever by any single state, according to the lawyers for the state ofTexas.
Allegations against Facebook
As per allegations, Meta captured biometric data of its users"billions of times" using photos and videos uploaded on its platforms using a free, now-discontinued feature called"Tag Suggestions."
The lawsuit was filed byTexas Attorney General Ken Paxton, claiming Meta did so without obtaining consent from the users.
Reaction from Texas attorney
The Texas attorney said any abuse of Texans' sensitive data will be met with "the full force of the law.”
Also read:Meta braces for first EU antitrust fine
“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,” Paxton added.
Similar lawsuit against Alphabet
The attorney said he was pursuing a similar case againstAlphabet, accusingthe Google owner of illegally collecting biometric data from millions of Texans.
(With inputs from agencies)