Meta agrees to $1.4B settlement with Texas in privacy lawsuit over facial recognition

Officials say Meta has agreed to a $1.4 billion settlement with Texas in a privacy lawsuit over claims that the tech giant used biometric data of users without their permission Meta agrees to $1.4B settlement with Texas in privacy lawsuit over facial recognitionBy NADIA LATHANAssociated Press/Report for AmericaThe Associated PressAUSTIN, Texas AUSTIN, Texas (AP) —
Meta agrees to $1.4B settlement with Texas in privacy lawsuit over facial recognition

Officials say Meta has agreed to a $1.4 billion settlement with Texas in a privacy lawsuit over claims that the tech giant used biometric data of users without their permission

Meta agrees to $1.4B settlement with Texas in privacy lawsuit over facial recognitionBy NADIA LATHANAssociated Press/Report for AmericaThe Associated PressAUSTIN, Texas

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Meta has agreed to a $1.4 billion settlement with Texas in a privacy lawsuit over claims that the tech giant used biometric data of users without their permission, officials said Tuesday.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the settlement is the largest secured by a single state. In 2021, a judge approved a $650 million settlement with the company, formerly known as Facebook, over similar claims of users in Illinois.

“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, a Republican, said in a statement.

Meta said in a statement: “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.”

Filed in 2022, the Texas lawsuit alleged that Meta was in violation of a state law that prohibits capturing or selling a resident’s biometric information, such as their face or fingerprint, without their consent.

The company announced in 2021 that it was shutting down its face-recognition system and delete the faceprints of more than 1 billion people amid growing concerns about the technology and its misuse by governments, police and others.

At the time, more than a third of Facebook’s daily active users had opted in to have their faces recognized by the social network’s system. Facebook introduced facial recognition more than a decade earlier but gradually made it easier to opt out of the feature as it faced scrutiny from courts and regulators.

Facebook in 2019 stopped automatically recognizing people in photos and suggesting people “tag” them, and instead of making that the default, asked users to choose if they wanted to use its facial recognition feature.

The $1.4 billion is unlikely to make a dent in Meta’s business. The Menlo Park, California-based tech made a profit of $12.37 billion in the first three months of this year, Its revenue was $36.46 billion, an increase of 27% from a year earlier. Meta is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings results on Wednesday.

Meta’s stock slipped $4.06 to $461.65 Tuesday, a decline of less than 1%.

___

AP Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay in San Francisco contributed to this report.

___

Lathan is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Total
0
Shares
Leave a Reply
Related Posts
KENNEDY: Dumpy couch-potato J.D. Vance is deflating like a West Wing whoopee cushion! Trump must bitterly regret picking this lacklustre, sexist sofa-surfer
Read More

KENNEDY: Dumpy couch-potato J.D. Vance is deflating like a West Wing whoopee cushion! Trump must bitterly regret picking this lacklustre, sexist sofa-surfer

Now that the Democratic elite have successfully defenestrated Joe Bye-den, America must brace for an ear-piercing possibility: Presi-Brat Coconut Tree Harris. (Don't understand me? Sorry, oldie!) I don't care what the polling says. General elections in the US are always hang on the most nimble of knife-edges, the final result a toss-ups that teeters on
Mystery over why ‘hidden gem’ Humpybong Creek at Moreton Bay, Queensland suddenly turned electric blue – and locals are worried
Read More

Mystery over why ‘hidden gem’ Humpybong Creek at Moreton Bay, Queensland suddenly turned electric blue – and locals are worried

Worried residents living near a creek locals describe as a 'hidden gem' were shocked after they discovered that the water had mysteriously turned a shade of bright electric blue.  A member of the public noticed the water in Humpybong Creek at Moreton Bay in Brisbane's north had turned aqua blue on Monday morning.  Officials from
Pioneer Stephenson earns overdue recognitionPioneer Stephenson earns overdue recognition
Read More

Pioneer Stephenson earns overdue recognitionPioneer Stephenson earns overdue recognition

Pioneer Stephenson earns overdue recognition August 11th, 2024 Julia Kreuz @juliackreuz Share share-square-522402 This story was excerpted from Keegan Matheson’s Blue Jays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox. TORONTO -- Ashley Stephenson sees snapshots of “monumental moments” in her career. The first time