In a stunning victory for Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton has wrangled a whopping $1.4 billion settlement from Meta, the tech giant formerly Facebook. This came after Meta was caught red-handed collecting Texan users’ biometric data without their consent.
Ah, Meta—always finding new ways to intrude on our privacy. In 2011, the company launched a facial recognition feature to help users tag people in photos. Sounds innocent enough, right? Except, they forgot to mention one tiny detail: they turned this feature on for all Texans without explaining how it worked. For over a decade, Meta’s facial recognition software was busy capturing the facial geometry of everyone in the uploaded photos. Yes, you read that right—over ten years of sneaky data gathering without so much as a heads-up.
Texas law, since 2009, has required companies to inform users and get their consent before collecting biometric data. And oh, they also need to destroy that data within a year. Meta, in typical Big Tech fashion, ignored this, only scrapping the system in 2021 after claiming to delete over a billion people’s biometric data. How thoughtful of them.
Paxton, clearly not one to let this slide, sued Meta in 2022, alleging the company violated Texas’ “Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier” and Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The result? Meta will be forking over $1.4 billion to the state over the next five years.
Paxton, in a statement dripping with justified pride, declared, “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 continued, “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.”
Meta, trying to sound conciliatory, expressed their pleasure in resolving the matter and even hinted at future investments in Texas, including possibly developing data centers. How generous of them.
This isn’t Meta’s first rodeo with biometric data scandals. Back in 2019, Facebook settled a similar suit with Illinois for $650 million after violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act. One has to wonder if they ever learn.
Ultimately, Paxton’s triumph is a win for privacy and a sharp reminder to Big Tech that they can’t just trample over state laws and individual rights. Texas stands tall, and Meta’s wallet feels the burn.
