Posts
The great state of Texas is suing Facebook's parent company, Meta Platforms Inc., alleging they violated the state's privacy protections, as the media giant faces more legal battles.
The lawsuit was filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. It states that Facebook unlawfully collected facial recognition data without user consent, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Meta has discontinued their facial recognition technology, which was often used for “tag suggestions” to encourage users to link photos to a friend’s profile, which would add to the data collection.
The Texas lawsuit alleges that Facebook should be responsible for billions of dollars in damages. Paxton said that the company violated the privacy laws of Texas by using the biometric data of millions throughout the state, both those who used Facebook and those who did not.
“In this action, the State alleges that Facebook unlawfully captured the biometric identifiers of Texans for a commercial purpose without their informed consent, disclosed those identifiers to others and failed to destroy collected identifiers within a reasonable time, all in violation of the Texas Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act,” the lawsuit states.
Paxton also released a statement alleging the company captured facial geometry in photos that users uploaded from 2010 to last year — when Facebook discontinued their facial recognition. This resulted in “tens of million of violations” of Texas law.
“Facebook has been secretly harvesting Texans’ most personal information — photos and videos — for its own corporate profit,” Paxton said, the WSJ reported.
“Texas law has prohibited such harvesting without informed consent for over 20 years. While ordinary Texans have been using Facebook to innocently share photos of loved ones with friends and family, we now know that Facebook has been brazenly ignoring Texas law for the last decade,” he added.
“‘Facebook was secretly capturing, disclosing, unlawfully retaining — and profiting off of — Texans’ most personal and highly sensitive information,” the complaint reads, according to the WSJ.
Texas law makes it unlawful to capture people’s biometric identifiers without consent. The state’s laws also prohibit sharing any identifier information.
Meta has discontinued their facial recognition technology, which was often used for “tag suggestions” to encourage users to link photos to a friend’s profile, which would add to the data collection.
The Texas lawsuit alleges that Facebook should be responsible for billions of dollars in damages. Paxton said that the company violated the privacy laws of Texas by using the biometric data of millions throughout the state, both those who used Facebook and those who did not.
“In this action, the State alleges that Facebook unlawfully captured the biometric identifiers of Texans for a commercial purpose without their informed consent, disclosed those identifiers to others and failed to destroy collected identifiers within a reasonable time, all in violation of the Texas Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act,” the lawsuit states.
Paxton also released a statement alleging the company captured facial geometry in photos that users uploaded from 2010 to last year — when Facebook discontinued their facial recognition. This resulted in “tens of million of violations” of Texas law.
“Facebook has been secretly harvesting Texans’ most personal information — photos and videos — for its own corporate profit,” Paxton said, the WSJ reported.
“Texas law has prohibited such harvesting without informed consent for over 20 years. While ordinary Texans have been using Facebook to innocently share photos of loved ones with friends and family, we now know that Facebook has been brazenly ignoring Texas law for the last decade,” he added.
“‘Facebook was secretly capturing, disclosing, unlawfully retaining — and profiting off of — Texans’ most personal and highly sensitive information,” the complaint reads, according to the WSJ.
Texas law makes it unlawful to capture people’s biometric identifiers without consent. The state’s laws also prohibit sharing any identifier information.
The Texas law provides a $25,000 fine per violation and with millions of Texans using the platform, the lawsuit is estimated to run billions of dollars in damages, the WSJ wrote.
Paxton condemned “Big Tech” in general for illegal practices like this, and said that Facebook must stop taking advantage of its users in this way.
Paxton condemned “Big Tech” in general for illegal practices like this, and said that Facebook must stop taking advantage of its users in this way.
“Facebook will no longer take advantage of people and their children with the intent to turn a profit at the expense of one’s safety and well-being. This is yet another example of Big Tech’s deceitful business practices, and it must stop. I will continue to fight for Texans’ privacy and security,” Paxton said in a statement.
While this lawsuit is quite significant because it's coming from a state, other similar lawsuits have been levied against the company.
Last year Facebook settled a class action suit that users brought against it. The suit said that user data has been used without consent. Facebook settled for $650 million, NPR, a taxpayer-funded, left wing outlet reported.
In addition to class action suits, the Federal Trade Commission and other state attorney generals have filed suits against Meta, like the one in 2019, when the company agreed to create more oversight in a privacy settlement with the FTC and also had to pay a $5 billion fine.
“The FTC and nearly every state attorney general are also seeking to break up Meta for allegedly squashing competition to maintain its dominance in social networking,” The Times reported.
Meta has been vocal about defending itself in these suits, however.
“These claims are without merit, and we will defend ourselves vigorously,” a spokesperson for Meta said, The Times reported.
Tweet
Last year Facebook settled a class action suit that users brought against it. The suit said that user data has been used without consent. Facebook settled for $650 million, NPR, a taxpayer-funded, left wing outlet reported.
In addition to class action suits, the Federal Trade Commission and other state attorney generals have filed suits against Meta, like the one in 2019, when the company agreed to create more oversight in a privacy settlement with the FTC and also had to pay a $5 billion fine.
* * *
For more hard-hitting content, subscribe to Brain Flushings and check out the ads on these pages. It costs nothing to subscribe and it's worth every penny. And remember, every time you click on an ad, you help in the fight against global warming and COVID-19.
* * *
“The FTC and nearly every state attorney general are also seeking to break up Meta for allegedly squashing competition to maintain its dominance in social networking,” The Times reported.
Meta has been vocal about defending itself in these suits, however.
“These claims are without merit, and we will defend ourselves vigorously,” a spokesperson for Meta said, The Times reported.
Hopefully, the Texas lawsuit will succeed and Facebook will get what it deserves.
No comments:
Post a Comment