Social media giant Meta has agreed to a $1.4 billion settlement with Texas after attorneys for the state accused the company of obtaining and using users’ biometric data without permission.
Texas filed suit against the company, formerly known as Facebook, in early 2022 for violating the state’s “Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier” Act (“CUBI”) and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement Tuesday.
“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. “Any abuse of Texans’ sensitive data will be met with the full force of the law.”
The lawsuit stemmed from Facebook’s “tag suggestions” feature that was unveiled in 2011. Paxton said the feature was automatically engaged for millions of Texans who didn’t know how the company would use their information.
“Unbeknownst to most Texans, for more than a decade Meta ran facial recognition software on virtually every face contained in the photographs uploaded to Facebook, capturing records of the facial geometry of the people depicted,” Paxton said.
The settlement amount is the largest that resulted in a lawsuit from a single state, the attorney general’s office said.
In a statement to CNBC, a Meta spokesperson said that the company was “pleased to resolve the matter.”
‘[We] look forward to exploring future opportunities to deepen our business investments in Texas, including potentially developing data centers,” the spokesperson said.
McKool Smith, who with Keller Postman served as co-counsel in the lawsuit, said the case was scheduled to go to trial in June but all sides agreed to a settlement just before then and asked the court to halt the proceedings while terms of the settlement were finalized.
“Companies that operate in Texas must be held accountable for their actions, particularly when it puts the privacy of Texans at risk,” the company said.
Texas’ Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier law was passed in 2009 and states a “person may not capture a biometric identifier” without a user’s consent. The law also forbids the sale of biometric data without consent or unless allowed by law and requires companies to use reasonable care in storing such data, according to an analysis of state privacy laws by the National Law Review.
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