Meta has provided Mark Zuckerberg with some mega headaches lately. The fact that the state of Texas is now suing Met over its facial recognition system isn’t going to make Zuck much happier.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton claimed that Meta’s Facebook photo tagging system violated the Texas Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act (CUBI). They want Meta to pay for financial damages, and they want the company to put the kibosh on unauthorized use of biometric data of Texas citizens.
No doubt you’re wondering what the heck CUBI restrictions are. Well, they were passed in 2009, and they require a company to get informed consent before collecting biometric data. Facial geometry is biometric data, so hence the lawsuit.
Specifically, the suit claims Meta/Facebook scanned user photos without permission, and the total count is millions of Texans having their biometric identifiers compromised. The state wants $25,000 in civil penalties for each CUBI violation. On top of that, the suit is asking for an additional $10,000 per violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
Two states paying close attention to this court case are Washington and Illinois, as they both have biometric privacy laws.
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