Meta , the parent company of Facebook , Instagram and WhatsApp , is paying Texas $1.4 billion for allegedly illegally collecting biometric data from millions of users without their consent .
This settlement marks one of the largest penalties ever imposed by regulators against the tech giant.
“This historic settlement demonstrates our commitment to fighting the world’s largest technology companies and holding them accountable for their violations of the law and the privacy of Texans,” said Attorney General Ken Paxton. “Any misuse of Texans’ sensitive data will be met with the fullest extent of the law.”
Read more: Meta fined for tracking users for the purpose of "behavioral advertising"
The development comes more than two years after the social media giant was sued for illegally collecting data from Texas residents without their informed consent, as required by law. Despite the seriousness of the allegations, the based has not admitted to any wrongdoing.
The feature, originally called Tag Suggestions when it was introduced in 2010, was presented as a way for users to easily tag photos they shared on Facebook by recognizing the names of the people depicted. However, the feature was enabled by default without adequate explanation of how it worked.
The lawsuit accused Meta of violating the state’s Capture or Use of Biometric Identifiers (CUBI) Act and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act. “Unbeknownst to most Texans, Meta had been running facial recognition software for over a decade on nearly every person in photos posted to Facebook, capturing data on the geometry of the faces depicted,” a press release from the Attorney General’s office said.
“Meta proceeded with this process despite knowing that CUBI prohibits companies from recording biometric identifiers of Texans, including facial geometry data, unless they notify the individual and obtain their consent to collect the biometric identifiers.”
In November 2021, Meta announced the complete shutdown of its “Face Recognition” system and the deletion of a huge database that included facial recognition patterns of over a billion users, as part of a broader initiative to limit the use of this technology on its services.
See also: Meta removes 63,000 Instagram accounts due to 'sextortion'
That same year, it agreed to pay $650 million in a settlement for a class action lawsuit filed in 2015 in Illinois under the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) for similar allegations regarding its facial recognition system.
Meta isn't the only company being targeted by Texas for collecting biometric data. The state also sued Google in October 2022 for allegedly violating the same biometric privacy law by collecting voice and facial data through products like Google Photos, Google Assistant , and the Nest Hub Max. The case is ongoing.
Source: thehackernews
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