Facebook Reaches Settlement in Texas Biometric Privacy Lawsuit

Meta’s Facebook has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by the state of Texas, which accused the social media giant of using facial-recognition technology to collect biometric data from millions of Texans without their consent.

Filed in 2022, the lawsuit is set to be resolved as both parties have reached an agreement in principle. They have requested a 30-day pause from the court to finalize the settlement details. The specific terms of the settlement were not disclosed in the court filing.

Meta and the Texas attorney general’s office have not commented on the settlement. Meta has previously stated that the claims are without merit and that the company would vigorously defend itself. Jury selection for the case had been scheduled to begin on June 17.

The lawsuit is significant as it is the first major case under Texas’ 2009 biometric privacy law, which allows for damages of up to $5,000 per violation.

The state of Texas accused Facebook of capturing biometric data “billions of times” through a feature called “Tag Suggestions,” which recognized friends in photos and suggested tagging them. Meta argued that users were given clear notice about the feature and had control over its use. The company announced in late 2021 that it would discontinue its facial recognition system.

In a similar case, Meta agreed to pay $650 million in 2020 to settle a biometric privacy class action under Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), which is known for its stringent privacy protections. Meta denied any wrongdoing in that case as well.

BIPA is notorious for allowing plaintiff’s to tally up fines based on individual biometric scans, rather than individual victims, meaning that a company found to be in violation of the Act could face multiple fines for repeatedly scanning the face or fingerprint, for example, of one person. A recently-passed amendment is poised to reverse this aspect of the law, switching it from a per-scan fee scheme to a per-person one.

The Texas lawsuit is filed under the case name State of Texas v. Meta Platforms in the 71st Judicial District, Harrison County.

Source: Reuters

–

June 3, 2024 – by Cass Kennedy