Meta Platforms Settles Texas Lawsuit, Agrees to Pay $1.4 Billion for Unauthorized Biometric Data Use

Meta Platforms has agreed to pay $1.4 billion to Texas to settle a lawsuit accusing the company of illegally using facial-recognition technology to collect biometric data from millions of Texans without consent. This settlement, the largest ever by a single state, resolves the lawsuit under Texas' biometric privacy law. Texas claimed Facebook captured biometric data "billions of times" from user-uploaded photos and videos via the now-discontinued "Tag Suggestions" feature. Meta denied any wrongdoing. Meta had previously settled a similar in Illinois. Google is also facing a biometric data lawsuit in Texas.