- Facial recognition costs Meta $1.4 billion
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is set to settle a lawsuit in Texas regarding its handling of biometric data for $1.4 billion. The settlement involves a former feature that automatically recognized users in photos. Meta plans to pay the equivalent of around $1.3 billion over a period of five years, according to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Texas: No Facial Recognition Without Consent
Texas sued Meta in 2022, alleging violations of two state laws. A Texas law on the collection of biometric data requires explicit user consent, which Paxton claims was not obtained despite years of using facial recognition technology. Meta initially denied the allegations but later stated, via a CNBC statement, that it was satisfied to have resolved the matter and was exploring further investments in Texas, including potential data centers.
The feature, discontinued in late 2021, automatically tagged Facebook friends in uploaded photos. Paxton argued that it collected facial characteristics of both network members and non-users depicted in the photos.
Not the First Major Payout in the US
In 2020, Facebook settled a similar lawsuit in Illinois for $650 million. Texas sought $25,000 for each violation of the biometric data law and an additional $10,000 for each violation of a law against deceptive business practices. According to estimates cited in the lawsuit, Facebook had around 20.5 million users in Texas in 2021. In 2022, Paxton also sued Google, alleging it created biometric profiles of individuals without their consent.
In this settlement, Meta is set to allocate a majority of the $1.4 billion to Texas residents over a five-year period. Despite Meta's operation in Texas for years, the lawsuit claimed that the company failed to obtain user consent for its facial recognition feature, as required by Texas law.
