The legal landscape for biometric data collection took another turn as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a $1.4 billion settlement with Meta Platforms Inc. Due to unauthorized collection and use of biometric data, this agreement marks a significant application of Texas’s Capture the Use of Biometric Identifier Act (CUBI Act), the first under this specific law.
The CUBI Act, enacted in 2001, mandates that companies obtain informed consent before collecting biometric identifiers like retina scans, fingerprints, voiceprints, or facial geometry. According to s 503.001(b) of the Act, businesses must inform individuals prior to data capture and receive explicit consent.
The lawsuit, initiated in February 2022, accused Meta of contravening the CUBI Act and the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA). The primary concerns centered on Meta’s “Tag Suggestions” feature, introduced in 2011, which used facial recognition technology to tag people in photos. Attorney General Paxton alleged that Meta’s collection of biometric data from Facebook users and their contacts was done without proper notification or consent, which is a clear violation of the CUBI Act.
While Meta discontinued its facial recognition tool in November 2021 and pledged to delete over a billion facial recognition templates, the damage to user privacy had been already done. “There are many concerns about the place of facial recognition technology in society, and regulators are still in the process of providing a clear set of rules governing its use,” Meta stated in their announcement.
Paxton framed the hefty settlement as a triumph for privacy rights: “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,” he said in his press release.
Under the terms of the settlement, Meta will pay the $1.4 billion over five years and must seek pre-approval from the state for any future biometric projects. Nevertheless, Meta continues to deny any wrongdoing, maintaining that the settlement was a means to move forward past the legal disputes and focus on more “opportunities in Texas.”
This substantial financial repercussion underscores the expanding scrutiny and regulatory enforcement surrounding biometric data privacy in the U.S. As the global biometric system market is projected to reach nearly $69.6 billion by 2025, compliance with these evolving legal standards becomes ever more critical for corporations.
For further details on the settlement and the lawsuit, please visit JURIST.