Texas Sues Meta Over Facial-Recognition System

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a civil suit against Meta over the collection of biometric data from millions of Texans without their informed consent. The Wall Street Journal reports.

According to Paxton, Facebook’s facial-recognition system violated state laws prohibiting the collection of Texans’ biometric identifiers without consent and the sharing of that information.

Penalties can reach up to $25,000 for each violation. Authorities estimate that in 2021 more than 20 million Texans were registered on Facebook. Potential penalties could amount to $500 billion.

“Facebook will no longer use people and their children to profit at the expense of their safety and well-being,” Paxton said.

Meta said the claims are unfounded, and they intend to “vigorously defend themselves.”

At the heart of the case is the facial-recognition technology that Facebook stopped using in November 2021. It was part of the “tag suggestions” feature, which scanned photos and automatically tagged users.

Earlier in 2021, a federal judge fined Facebook for similar violations in Illinois. The company was ordered to pay $650 million in compensation.

As noted in October 2021, former Facebook employee Frances Haugen accused the company of deliberate use of misleading and discriminatory algorithms for profit.

In January 2022, American lawmakers proposed virtually banning targeted advertising online.

In February, U.S. senators introduced a bipartisan bill regulating the recommendation systems of social networks.

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