Meta to pay $1.4 billion to settle Texas lawsuit over facial recognition data misuse

In a landmark decision, Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, has agreed to pay $1.4 billion to settle a lawsuit brought by the state of Texas over the unauthorized use of biometric data. 

This settlement, approved by a Texas state district court in Harrison County, is the largest ever obtained from a single state's legal action. 

Meta will disburse the settlement amount over five years.

“After vigorously pursuing justice for our citizens whose privacy rights were violated by Meta’s use of facial recognition software, I’m proud to announce that we have reached the largest settlement ever obtained from an action brought by a single state,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. 

“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. Any abuse of Texans’ sensitive data will be met with the full force of the law.”

Paxton has built a reputation for challenging Big Tech in defense of Texans' rights and has also filed three lawsuits against Google for similar violations.

A Meta spokesperson expressed satisfaction with the resolution, stating, “We are pleased to resolve this matter and look forward to exploring future opportunities to deepen our business investments in Texas, including potentially developing data centers.”

The settlement amount is more than double what Meta paid to settle a similar class-action lawsuit in Illinois in 2021.

Facebook analyzed faces in photos, including those of non-Facebook users

The lawsuit, filed by Paxton in February 2022, accused Facebook of illegally using the facial recognition data of millions of Texas residents through its now-defunct photo-tagging tool, "Tag Suggestions." Introduced in 2011, this feature analyzed faces in photos, including those of non-Facebook users, and recommended tags for people identified by the tool.

Paxton claimed, "Meta automatically turned this feature on for all Texans without explaining how the feature worked. 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. Meta did this despite knowing that CUBI forbids companies from capturing biometric identifiers of Texans."

Months before the lawsuit was filed, Facebook discontinued the feature after settling another class-action lawsuit in Illinois for $650 million. 

At that time, Facebook also committed to deleting the data collected from at least 600 million users who had been part of the program.

The Texas lawsuit was the first major case brought under the state's Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier (CUBI) Act, passed in 2009. 

The substantial settlement sets a precedent for future legal actions in this area, reflecting the seriousness of the violations and the state's determination to protect its residents' privacy rights.

Google faces similar legal challenges

While Meta has resolved its lawsuit, Google continues to face legal battles. 

In October 2022, Paxton filed a lawsuit against Google, accusing the company of collecting millions of biometric identifiers, including voiceprints and face geometry records, from Texans through products like Google Photos, Google Assistant, and Nest Hub Max. 

Additionally, Paxton sued Google in January 2022 for allegedly misleading Texas consumers by tracking their personal location data despite users believing they had disabled this feature. 

The lawsuit argues that Google used the deceptively gathered data to push advertisements, earning enormous profits.

As the legal landscape surrounding biometric data privacy continues to evolve, these cases highlight the growing importance of stringent data protection measures and the accountability of tech giants in safeguarding user information.