Attorney General Paxton just could not take it and sued Facebook for its abusive power.
Recently rebranded Meta (formerly Facebook) have violated state law, especially in Texas and Attorney General Paxton has led the lawsuit against the giant tech company as they are capturing users’ facial features without proper consent.
Facebook has been allegedly accused by AG Paxton of storing millions of biometric identifiers (defined by statute as “a retina or iris scan, fingerprint, voiceprint, or record of hand or face geometry”) contained in photos and videos uploaded by friends and family who used the social media app and Paxton claims it as an illegal activity for exploiting the personal information of user’s and non-users for growth of its empire and reap historic windfall profits.
Meta has violated Texas’ Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
Attorney General Paxton said in a statement, “Facebook will no longer take advantage of people and their children with the intent to turn a profit at the expense of one’s safety and well-being and this is yet another example of Big Tech’s deceitful business practices and it must stop. I will continue to fight for Texans’ privacy and security.”
Meta, formerly Facebook has responded in a statement, Meta Platforms Inc. FB, which is based in Melo Park, Calif., called the lawsuit “without merit.”
The company said in November that it was shutting down its facial recognition program and deleting its data.
Texas is asking the court to fine Meta $25,000 for each violation of the informed consent rule and $10,000 for each violation of the state’s deceptive trade practices act.
Meta, then called Facebook, paid $650 million to settle a similar lawsuit over a photo the use of photo face-tagging and other biometric data in Illinois last year.
That’s a hefty amount of money just for settlement.
Source: Breaking 911