The social media giant, Meta, agreed to settle a lawsuit accusing the company of illegally capturing biometric data from its users without their consent. Meta will pay a historic amount of $1.4 billion over the course of the next five years. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and McKool Smith, which also represents Texas, said that the deal is “the largest settlement ever obtained from an action brought by a single state.”
The lawsuit accused Meta of using its users biometric data that is contained in photos and videos on Facebook without receiving permission to do so. As a result of this activity Facebook exploited the personal information of users and non-users alike to grow its empire and reap historic windfall profits.
“Companies that operate in Texas must be held accountable for their actions, particularly when it puts the privacy of Texans at risk. We’re grateful to have had the opportunity to work with the Office of the Attorney General, and we appreciate how the court handled this lawsuit,” attorneys Sam Baxter and Jennifer Truelove said in a written statement.
Texas Alleged that Meta Violated its Data Privacy Laws
AG Paxton alleged Meta of violating Texas’s Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act (CUBI). The claimed violation rose out of Meta’s “Tag Suggestions” feature on Facebook that consisted of an automated photo tagging feature when users upload photos or videos. Facebook introduced the facial recognition technology in 2010 which provided users with an easier way of tagging their friends. In 2021, the company announced that it would cease to use the technology after settling a case in which it was sued for violating Illinois’ biometric privacy law.
“It was the first time the State of Texas sought to enforce its biometric-privacy law since enactment, requiring our team to develop novel litigation approaches and analyze important questions of first impression,” Zina Bash, representative attorney for Texas, said in a written statement. “And it was the first time a single state has ever achieved a settlement of this magnitude — which is even more rewarding because of the record time in which we obtained it. When we filed the case in 2022, we knew the state wanted to move quickly, and our team was relentless in litigating the case.”
In February 2022, Paxton filed a lawsuit in Texas state court against Facebook’s parent company, accusing it of violating the CUBI act by failing to obtain consent from Facebook users before collecting their data. The state also claimed that Meta unlawfully disclosed this data to third parties and failed to delete the data within the time frame specified by CUBI.
A Meta spokesperson said the company was “pleased to resolve this matter and look forward to exploring future opportunities to deepen our business investments in Texas, including potentially developing data centers.” 
Jacob Horowitz is a contributing editor at Compliance Chief 360°