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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on July 30, Eastern Time, that social media giant Meta has agreed to pay $1.4 billion to settle the state's lawsuit against Facebook for unauthorized use of user biometric data.

The lawsuit was filed by Ken Paxton in February 2022, accusing Meta of illegally capturing and using biometric information of millions of Texas residents through photos and videos uploaded by users on Facebook without obtaining legal authorization.

The attorney general's office revealed that Facebook has stored billions of biometric identifiers without user consent since the launch of the "tag suggestions" feature in 2011. Meta ran facial recognition software on nearly every face in photos uploaded to Facebook without the knowledge of most Texas residents, recording data on the person's facial structure.

Meta performed these actions despite being aware of the Texas Biometric Identifier Capture or Use Act, which prohibits companies from capturing biometric information without notifying and obtaining user consent.

Faced with concerns about the use of facial recognition technology, Meta announced in late 2021 that it would shut down the facial recognition feature on Facebook. The settlement was filed in the State District Court for Harrison County, Texas. It is the largest settlement amount obtained in a lawsuit initiated by a single state, and Meta will pay the settlement amount over five years.

Ken Paxton said in a statement:

"This historic settlement demonstrates our determination to stand up to the world's largest technology companies and hold them accountable for breaking the law and violating the privacy rights of Texans. Any misuse of sensitive Texas residents' data will be met with the full force of the law."

A spokesperson for Meta told the media:

“We are pleased to resolve this issue and look forward to further expanding business investments, including data center development, in Texas in the future.”

Although the settlement was announced Tuesday, the agreement was actually reached two months ago on the eve of the trial in June, according to the law firms McKool Smith and Keller Postman representing the Texas companies, when the parties requested a stay of proceedings to finalize the terms of the deal before a public announcement.

In addition, Ken Paxton's office is continuing its lawsuit against Alphabet, accusing the Google company of illegally collecting biometric data on millions of Texas residents.