Facebook parent company Meta , has agreed to pay$ 1.4 billion to settle a lawsuit by the state of Texas over Facebook’s unauthorized use of biometric data from millions of Texans, the Attorney General’s Office announced Tuesday.
Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the tech giant for violating the Texas ‘ Record or Use of Biometric Identifier Act and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act in February 2022. According to the lawsuit, alleged Meta allegedly obtained thousands of Texans ‘ genetic information without their consent, as required by state laws.
In 2011, Meta released a function called Tag Suggestions. The company made the claim that it would instantly enable the tag-and-tag feature for photos.
For over a century, Meta’s facial recognition software scanned almost every face in images uploaded to Facebook, capturing information of physical shape without the users ‘ acceptance, according to the Attorney General’s Office. This behavior immediately violated the law, which requires that businesses inform customers and obtain their consent before capturing genetic identifiers like facial geometry.
The condition may receive five-year payments from Meta. Paxton’s company said the settlement  , is the largest ever obtained , from an action brought by a single state.
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