Meta agrees to USD1.4B settlement in biometric data lawsuit
Date
7/31/2024 9:48:03 AM
(MENAFN) US-based global tech firm Meta has agreed to a USD1.4 billion settlement in response to a lawsuit regarding the unauthorized capture of personal biometric data, as announced by the Texas Attorney General on Tuesday. The lawsuit claimed that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, captured and used the biometric data of millions of Texans without the legally required authorization. In light of this settlement, Meta will cease this practice, according to the statement by Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The USD1.4 billion settlement is notable for being the largest ever obtained by a single American state, and it surpasses the previous record privacy settlement of USD390 million, which a group of 40 states secured from Google in late 2022. This settlement underlines the seriousness of the privacy violations and the state's commitment to protecting its citizens' data. The case was brought under Texas’s Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier (CUBI) Act, marking it as both the first lawsuit and settlement under this legislation. The outcome serves as a stark warning to other companies about the consequences of violating Texans' privacy rights.
Attorney General Paxton expressed pride in the outcome, stating, "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." He emphasized the state's dedication to holding major technology firms accountable for legal violations and privacy infringements, asserting that any abuse of Texans’ sensitive data would be met with rigorous legal action.
The controversy stemmed from a feature Meta introduced in 2011, originally called Tag Suggestions, which was designed to improve user experience by simplifying the process of tagging photos with the names of individuals in them. However, Meta enabled this feature for all Texans without adequately explaining its functionality, subsequently running facial recognition software on nearly every face in photos uploaded to Facebook for over a decade. This practice involved capturing records of facial geometry without user consent, leading to the extensive legal challenge and the resultant settlement.
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