Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, PRIVACY NEWS: Texas AG settles with Meta over biometric privacy violations, (Jul 31, 2024)

By Tony Foley, TR Daily

The $1.4 billion settlement the largest ever obtained from an action brought by a single state.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R.) announced that his office had secured a $1.4 billion settlement with Meta Platforms, Inc., that he said would stop the company’s practice of capturing and using the personal biometric data of millions of Texas without authorization as required by law. In a news release, AG Paxton noted that the settlement was the largest ever obtained from an action brought by a single state, as well as the largest privacy settlement ever obtained by a state attorney general. The action leading to the settlement is the first lawsuit brought under the state’s Capture or Use of Biometric Information (CUBI) Act.

In February 2022, AG Paxton sued Meta, alleging that the company’s failure to obtain proper consent prior to collecting users’ biometric information violated both CUBI and the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The suit cited Meta’s rollout of a “Tag Suggestions” feature in 2011, which made it easier for users to tag photos with the names of the photo subjects displayed. It set the feature to “on” by default without explaining how the feature worked. Accordingly, AG Paxton said, Meta ran facial recognition software on virtually every face contained in photos uploaded to Facebook for more than a decade, despite knowing that CUBI forbids companies from capturing biometric identifiers of Texans, including records of facial geometry, unless the business first informs the person and receives their consent to capture the identifier.

“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,” said AG Paxton. “This historic settlement demonstrates our commitment to standing up to the world’s biggest technology companies and holding them accountable for breaking the law and violating Texans’ privacy rights. Any abuse of Texans’ sensitive data will be met with the full force of the law.”

Under the final order agreed to by the parties in Texas state court, Meta will pay the settlement over a five-year period. An initial payment of $500,000 is due within 30 days of the effective date of the settlement to be divided in accordance with instructions set forth in the settlement. The remainder of the settlement will be paid in equal annual installments from 2025 through 2028.

News: Privacy TexasNews