Meta to Pay Record-Breaking $1.4 Billion to Settle Texas Facial Recognition Data Lawsuit

• After a long legal battle, the lawsuit filed against Meta by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has finally been settled.
• Meta has agreed to pay a settlement amount of a whopping $1.4 billion over the next 5 years. This is the biggest ever settlement a single state has managed to get from a company.
• Meta launched a feature called tag" in 2011 that allowed it to scan and study facial images. This feature was turned on by default, which wasn't only a privacy issue but also against Texas laws.

The privacy lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton against Meta has finally come to an end. Meta has agreed to pay a $1.4 billion settlement.

It's well worth noting that this is the largest sum obtained by a single state against a business. The settlement amount will be paid out over the next 5 years.

However, as a part of the settlement, Meta did not admit to any wrongdoing. Instead, it discontinued the feature (which it did in 2021) and deleted all the facial scan data it had stored over the years. Although there's no official count of the amount of images Meta stored, it's certainly more than a billion.

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." - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton

Needless to say, Paxton is very happy with the decision. He further said that any abuse of Texans will not be tolerated, and that it will be met with full force.

Meta, on the other hand, issued a highly diplomatic response. It said that it was pleased to resolve the matter and will explore future investment opportunities in Texas, including potentially developing data centers.Backstory of the Lawsuit

It all started in 2011 when Meta (then known as Facebook) rolled out a tag" feature that allowed its software to scan and study users' faces in their Facebook images so that it can sort pictures properly.

Although the intent behind this initiative might seem innocent, the problem was that this feature was turned on by default for all users. The issue with this is similar to what people had with Microsoft's Windows Recall when it was first announced.

All in all, Meta's initiative clearly violated the 2009 state statute governing the use of biometric data and the state's Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Basically, Meta had to expressly inform individuals and obtain their consent before obtaining biometric data such as facial images.

Therefore, in 2022, Paxton finally sued Meta for its practices. He made the announcement during a news conference held outside the courthouse square in downtown Marshall. The case had been dragging on ever since, and has finally come to a conclusion now.

Related: Meta's oversight board advises it to refine rules on AI-generated adult content

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