Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook, has agreed to pay $1.4 billion to settle a lawsuit filed by the state of Texas over the illegal use of facial-recognition technology to collect biometric data from millions of Texans without their consent. This landmark settlement, reported by Reuters on Tuesday, marks the largest of its kind with a single state, according to Texas’ legal team, which included the law firm Keller Postman.
The lawsuit, initiated in 2022, was the first major case brought under Texas’ 2009 biometric privacy law. This law provides for damages of up to $25,000 per violation. Texas accused Facebook of capturing biometric information “billions of times” from photos and videos that users uploaded as part of a free, now-discontinued feature called “Tag Suggestions.”
In a related matter, Meta was fined $220 million by Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) a few weeks ago. The Nigerian consumer protection watchdog, led by Acting Executive Chairman Adamu Abdullahi, stated that Meta had denied Nigerian users control over their data, shared data without consent, and abused its market dominance.
The FCCPC accused Meta of “denying Nigerian data subjects the right to self-determine; unauthorized transfer and sharing of Nigerian data subjects’ personal data, including cross-border storage in violation of then and now prevailing law; discrimination and disparate treatment; abuse of dominance; and tying and bundling.”
Meta has disagreed with the decision and the fine, asserting that in 2021, they explained to users globally how interactions with businesses would work. Despite initial confusion, Meta claims this feature has proven to be quite popular.
