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According to foreign media reports, on July 31, Texas officials said on Tuesday that Meta has agreed to a $1.4 billion settlement with the State of Texas to resolve a privacy lawsuit involving the technology giant's use of users' biometric data without their permission.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said it was the largest settlement ever reached by a single state.

In 2021, a judge approved a $650 million settlement with the company formerly known as Facebook to resolve similar allegations brought by users in Illinois.

"This historic settlement demonstrates our resolve to stand up to the world's largest technology companies and hold them accountable for breaking the law and violating the privacy rights of the people of Texas," 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 investment in the Texas business, including the possible development of a data center.

The 2022 Texas lawsuit alleges that Meta violated state law that prohibits the acquisition or sale of residents’ biometric information, such as faces or fingerprints, without their consent.

As concerns grew about the technology and its abuse by governments, police, and others, the company announced in 2021 that it would shut down its facial recognition system and delete the facial fingerprints of more than 1 billion people.

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 systems. Facebook introduced facial recognition more than a decade ago but has gradually made it easier to opt out of the feature as it faces scrutiny from courts and regulators.