Texas Sues Facebook Claiming State Violations of Biometric Data Use/Storage

Texas Sues Meta (Facebook) Over State Biometric Law Violations

Texas filed suit against Meta Platforms, Inc. (“Meta”), the parent company of Facebook, over claims that the company violated Texas’s biometric data laws via its Facebook social media platform. The lawsuit, if successful, would result in hundreds of billions of dollars in fines against Meta.

Texas Sues Meta for State Privacy Law Violations 

In the lawsuit, Texas state Attorney General Ken Paxton claims that Facebook unlawfully collected, and failed to destroy, the biometric data on Texans that have used Facebook as well those who have not. The complaint alleges that Facebook’s “tag suggestions” feature exploits biometric data. Biometric data includes the mapping of faces, which affects both users and non-users alike. Even though Facebook terminated the feature, Texas alleges that Meta violated the law because it failed to destroy the biometric data in a timely manner as required by Texas law. Under Texas law, anyone who collects data must destroy it within a reasonable time, which also means no later than one year after the data was collected. 

Texas Suit Against Meta Claims Biometric Data Collected Without Consent & Shared

Moreover, because Facebook allegedly collected the biometric data without consent and then shared it with third parties, Texas claims that the violations ultimately total into the billions. In support of his complaint, Paxton has cited the Capture or Use of the Biometric Identifier Act (“CUBI”) and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act (“DTPA”), which sets each violation at $25,000.

In response, Meta has denied that there is any merit to the State of Texas’ claims despite admitting that termination of the “tag suggestions” feature was partly due to growing privacy concerns among the public. Even though Meta confirmed that it would delete the facial recognition information, it admitted that it had data on more than 1 billion users, which means that the data, which affects non-users as well, would also number significantly over 1 billion.

Key Takeaways on Why Texas Sued Meta for Privacy Violations 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed suit against Meta, Facebook’s parent company, over allegations that it violated numerous privacy laws with its “tag suggestions” feature, which:

  • Used facial recognition software that relied on biometric data;

  • Allegedly violated the Capture or Use of the Biometric Identifier Act (“CUBI”) and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act (“DTPA”);

  • Collected biometric data of users and non-users alike; and

  • Relied on data that was not timely destroyed (allegedly) as required by Texas law.

For more information on data privacy, see our Technology Law Services and Industry Focused Legal Solutions pages.

Blog, Law, Technology & DataCeles Keene