There were allegations that the corporation had employed facial recognition technology without obtaining consent.
Meta has reached a settlement with the state of Texas, which will result in the firm paying $1.4 billion to settle a complaint that accused the corporation of engaging in the unlawful use of facial recognition technology. Meta is accused of using this technology to collect the biometric information of millions of Texans without obtaining their agreement, according to the lawsuit. With this arrangement, the highest financial settlement that has ever been paid out to a single state reaches its conclusion.
The complaint was initially submitted in 2022, and it was the first significant action to be made under the state’s Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act, which had been implemented in 2009. A part of this legislation imposes a maximum fine of $25,000 for each infraction, and the state of Texas accused Meta of breaking the statute “billions of times” through photographs and videos that users posted to Facebook and that were tagged without the agreement of the individuals.
In addition, the initial lawsuit had the potential to result in an extra $10,000 being awarded for each claimed violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. To put it another way, taken into consideration the huge number of claimed infractions and the maximum financial penalty of $35,000 for each one, Meta has just saved itself a significant amount of money.
🚨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.
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) July 30, 2024
This settlement is the largest ever obtained from an action… pic.twitter.com/AkOppAGO0K
The company is “exploring future opportunities to deepen our business investments in Texas, including potentially developing data centers,” according to a representative for Meta, adding that the company is pleased that the situation has been resolved and that the company is “exploring future opportunities.” The corporation, on the other hand, continues to insist that it has not committed any violation, despite the fact that it has disabled its automated facial recognition technology.
Ken Paxton, the Attorney General of Texas, is taking a victory loop by announcing in an official statement that the state is completely dedicated to “standing up to the world’s biggest technology companies and holding them accountable for breaking the law and violating” privacy rights. Paxton’s announcement is a kind of celebration lap. Just a few weeks before the scheduled start of a court trial, Texas and Meta came to an agreement regarding this matter.
“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 stated when the action was initially filed. “Facebook promises to stop taking advantage of people and their children.” “This is yet another example of one of the many dishonest business practices that Big Tech engages in, and it must be stopped.”
There have been previous instances in which Meta has been required to make a significant payment to a state in connection with the purported gathering of biometric data. As part of the settlement of a similar class action lawsuit, the corporation agreed to pay the state of Illinois $650 million in the year 2020. A privacy legislation that requires businesses to obtain users’ express consent before collecting their biometric data was allegedly violated by the corporation in question, according to the allegations made in that lawsuit. The denial of any misconduct was reiterated by Meta.