Texas AG Announces Privacy Suit Against Meta

In a press release, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced a lawsuit the state has filed against Meta, alleging that Facebook stores millions of biometric identifiers uploaded by users. Paxton says that Facebook exploited the personal information of users “to grow its empire and reap historic windfall profits,” and calls the practice yet another example of Big Tech’s deceitful business practices. The suit alleges that Meta’s use of facial recognition technology, (now discontinued) violated the state’s privacy protections regarding biometric data, and that Facebook deceived Texans who were unaware of the fact that Facebook was capturing biometric information from photos and videos. AG Paxton has legal troubles of his own. He is under indictment on felony securities fraud charges, and in October 2020 members of his staff made multiple criminal allegations against him. Nevertheless, he’s running for a third term. Donald Trump has endorsed him.