Security News > 2024 > July > Meta Settles for $1.4 Billion with Texas Over Illegal Biometric Data Collection

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, agreed to a record $1.4 billion settlement with the U.S. state of Texas over allegations that it illegally collected biometric data of millions of users without their permission, marking one of the largest penalties levied by regulators against the tech giant.

The development arrived more than two years after the social media behemoth was sued for unlawfully capturing facial data belonging to Texas without their informed consent as is required by the law.

The lawsuit accused Meta of violating the state's Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

"Meta did this despite knowing that CUBI forbids companies from capturing biometric identifiers of Texans, including records of face geometry, unless the business first informs the person and receives their consent to capture the biometric identifier."

In November 2021, Meta said it was discontinuing its "Face Recognition" system altogether and deleting a huge collection of more than a billion users' facial recognition templates as part of a wider initiative to limit the use of the technology across its products.

Meta is not the only party being targeted by Texas over the collection of biometric data.

News URL

https://thehackernews.com/2024/07/meta-settles-for-14-billion-with-texas.html