Mark Suckerberg, Founder and CEO of Meta (Facebook). Photo by Anthony Quintano, under CC BY 2.0 via Flickr.
Texas Border Business
In a groundbreaking legal victory, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has achieved a historic $1.4 billion settlement with Meta (formerly known as Facebook) over the unauthorized capture and use of personal biometric data from millions of Texans. This settlement represents the largest ever obtained from an action initiated by a single state and sets a new precedent in enforcing privacy laws.
This landmark settlement shadows previous privacy settlements, including the $390 million settlement reached by 40 states with Google in late 2022. It is the first lawsuit and settlement under Texas’s “Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier” Act (CUBI), serving as a powerful warning to any company that engages in practices infringing on Texans’ privacy rights.
“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,” stated Attorney General 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.”
The lawsuit, filed by Attorney General Paxton in February 2022, accused Meta of unlawfully capturing biometric data without obtaining the informed consent required by Texas law. Meta’s practices were found to be in violation of both the CUBI Act and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act. This case marks a significant moment in Attorney General Paxton’s ongoing efforts to hold major technology companies accountable. It follows several other high-profile initiatives, including antitrust lawsuits and aggressive privacy law enforcement.
Meta’s controversial practice began in 2011 with the introduction of a feature initially called Tag Suggestions, designed to improve the user experience by making it easier to tag photographs with people’s names. The feature was automatically enabled for all Texans without adequately explaining its operation. For over a decade, Meta used facial recognition software to capture the facial geometry of individuals depicted in photos uploaded to Facebook. This practice violated CUBI’s requirement for informed consent.
The settlement agreement, reached approximately two years after the lawsuit was filed, stipulates that Meta will pay the state of Texas $1.4 billion over five years. This monumental settlement was made possible by the diligent efforts of co-counsel Keller Postman and McKool Smith, with Zina Bash serving as Lead Counsel for Keller Postman and Sam Baxter and Jennifer Truelove serving as Lead Counsel for McKool Smith. Their aggressive litigation strategy was instrumental in securing this unprecedented agreement.
Attorney General Paxton’s office and its legal partners have set a new benchmark for privacy enforcement, reinforcing the message that the unlawful capture of biometric data will not be tolerated. This settlement provides significant financial restitution and underlines the importance of protecting personal privacy in the digital age.
