Facebook parent company Meta has agreed to pay $1.4 billion to settle a facial recognition data lawsuit filed in Texas, according to CNBC. The lawsuit involves Facebook's unauthorized use of users' personal biometric data from photos and videos uploaded to the social media site.
Meta to pay $1.4 billion to settle
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Facebook has agreed to pay a record $1.4 billion to settle a Texas lawsuit over Facebook's unauthorized use of users' biometric data. The lawsuit, filed by Paxton in February 2022, accuses Meta of capturing and using the biometric data of millions of Texas residents without the consent required by law.
Facebook stored billions of biometric identifiers without customers' consent after launching a new feature called "tag suggestions" in 2011. For more than a decade, Paxton said, Meta has used facial recognition software on every face in photos users upload to Facebook, capturing a record of the facial geometry of the person depicted.
Paxton is also reportedly continuing to file a similar lawsuit against Google parent company Alphabet involving biometric data.
Meta said in 2021 that it would shut down Facebook’s facial recognition system
Meta said at the end of 2021 that it would shut down the facial recognition system on Facebook, citing "increasing concerns about the use of technology as a whole." However, Meta has not completely given up on facial recognition technology. They will still use this technology in limited circumstances, such as when users need to identify themselves by their faces, or to prevent fraud or impersonation. In addition, Meta will continue to explore other important applications of facial recognition, such as unlocking accounts, authenticating identities on financial products or services, or unlocking devices, etc.
A spokesperson for Meta told CNBC:
We are pleased to have resolved this issue and look forward to exploring future opportunities to deepen our business investments in Texas, including the potential development of data centers.
EU “AI Act” restricts the use of facial recognition
The European Union officially passed the Artificial Intelligence Regulation Act (AI Act) in December 2023, which will become the world's first AI legislation. It aims to ensure the safety, fairness and reliability of artificial intelligence systems and prevent them from being used for discrimination, abuse or other inappropriate purposes. Behavior. Among them, capturing people's facial images through the Internet or monitors to build a facial recognition system is also prohibited.
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