Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta Platforms agreed to pay $1.4 billion to settle the lawsuit brought against it by the state of Texas, the state's attorney general, Ken Paxton, announced Tuesday.
"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," Paxton said in a statement.
"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," Paxton's statement continues. "Any entity abusing Texans' sensitive data will be met with the full force of the law."
A Meta spokesperson told FOX Business in a statement that "We are pleased to resolve this matter, and look forward to exploring future opportunities to deepen our business investments in Texas, including potentially developing data centers." Meta did not admit to any wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
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The lawsuit, filed by Paxton in 2022, was the first major case to be brought under Texas' 2009 biometric privacy law, according to law firms tracking the litigation. A provision of the law provides 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 to the social media platform as part of a free, discontinued feature called "Tag Suggestions."
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The technology could recognize a Facebook user’s friends in a photo and suggest that the user "tag" that person.
Facebook said in a court filing that it provided "clear notice" that explained the feature to users and gave them control over its use. The company in late 2021 said it was moving to end its facial recognition system.
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Meta separately agreed to pay $650 million in 2020 to settle a biometric privacy class action that was brought under an Illinois privacy law that is considered one of the nation's most stringent. The company denied wrongdoing.
Reuters contributed to this report.
