Meta Platforms will pay $1.4 billion to Texas, settling a lawsuit over unauthorized facial-recognition biometric data collection.
Disclosed Tuesday, the settlement terms mark Texas’s largest accord ever, say lawyers, including Keller Postman.
Filed in 2022, the lawsuit was the first significant case under Texas’ 2009 biometric privacy law, law firms report.
A clause of the statute allows for damages of up to $25,000 per breach.
Texas accused Facebook of repeatedly capturing biometric data from user-uploaded photos and videos via the now-discontinued “Tag Suggestions” feature.
A Meta spokesperson expressed satisfaction in resolving the matter, looking forward to exploring future Texas business investments, including data centers.
It has repeatedly denied any misconduct.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement that the settlement demonstrates the state’s “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 and Meta reached an accord in May, just weeks before the scheduled state court trial.
Meta, denying wrongdoing, settled a 2020 Illinois biometric privacy class action for $650 million under strict privacy law.
Meanwhile, Google is contesting a Texas lawsuit alleging violations of the state’s biometric law.
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