Meta to pay $1.4 billion to settle facial recognition data lawsuit

Meta Platforms has agreed to a $1.4 billion settlement with Texas to resolve allegations that it illegally used facial-recognition technology to collect biometric data from millions of Texans without their consent.

This settlement, disclosed on Tuesday, is the largest accord of its kind by any single state, according to Texas lawyers, including the plaintiffs’ firm Keller Postman.

Filed in 2022, the lawsuit was the first significant case under Texas’ 2009 biometric privacy law, which allows for damages of up to $25,000 per violation. Texas accused Meta, Facebook’s parent company, of capturing biometric data “billions of times” from user-uploaded photos and videos through a now-discontinued feature called “Tag Suggestions.”

A Meta spokesperson expressed satisfaction with the settlement, stating the company looks forward to future business investments in Texas, including the potential development of data centers. Meta continues to deny any wrongdoing.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton emphasized the state’s commitment to holding major technology companies accountable for privacy violations, highlighting the importance of this settlement for protecting Texans’ privacy rights.

Although announced this week, the agreement was reached in May, just weeks before the trial was set to begin in state court. This follows a similar $650 million settlement by Meta in 2020 for a biometric privacy class action under Illinois law. Meta also denied any wrongdoing in that case.