Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that the state has reached a settlement with social media giant Meta over its use of facial recognition technology.
Paxton described the $1.4 billion agreement as the "largest settlement ever obtained from an action brought by a single state." The $1.4 billion agreement will be paid by Meta over the course of five years.
Meta does not have to admit to any wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
Texas first sued Meta in 2022, claiming the company violated the state's "Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier" Act. Paxton's office said that Meta used facial recognition technology that would make it easier for users to "tag" photographs with the names of users.
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Paxton's office claimed that Meta turned this feature on without explaining how the feature worked and that the company ran facial recognition capturing the facial geometry of those photographed.
The Attorney General's Office said that Meta continued capturing biometric data despite a Texas law prohibiting companies from capturing Texans' biometric identifiers, including facial geometry, unless a person consents.
"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. "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."
Meta is the parent company of platforms Facebook, Instagram and Threads.
“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," the company said in a statement.
